


Grotesque

by SlightlyNerdyTiget



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Twice and Dreamcatcher are involved too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 34
Words: 146,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22131457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlightlyNerdyTiget/pseuds/SlightlyNerdyTiget
Summary: A stone figure watches over it's charge, a young woman with a tragic backstory and family secret which she herself does not know.Haseul's life changes when she witnesses an angel fall. Old secrets are unburied, old friendships rekindled and new lovers unite in a dangerous world of angels, demons and their children.
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin, Jo Haseul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip, Park Chaewon | Go Won/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye
Comments: 71
Kudos: 259





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Welcome to my fic. To give a forewarning, this is a long fic, she’s very long. And I’m fond of cliffhangers so there’s that.
> 
> Content warning: there is a lot of violence, particularly in later chapters. There are descriptions of injuries that can get a bit gory and there are some smutty scenes in later chapters. There’s also discussions of depression, anxiety and suicide so I wouldn’t recommend this fic if discussions of those topics will be damaging to you. I want people to enjoy my work, I don’t want to trigger anyone’s mental health issues and I don’t want to inadvertently hurt anyone. I’ve tried to put appropriate content warnings at the start of each chapter so it’s not such a jarring surprise.
> 
> Additionally, if you enjoy reading the fics or sympathise with a certain crustacean (and I think we all know who I’m referring to), don’t interact with me. I know I’m not innocent and I’ve written things that I sincerely regret, but at least I’m not a nonce.

The first time you saw her, she was merely a baby. Her mother and father beamed with pride. They held the baby, which was clad in white robes, in their protective arms. You immediately felt a shift in priorities as you stared at the child with stone eyes. You would protect this baby from harm. 

You watched this baby grow into young child. Innocence radiated off her, it warmed your unbeating heart. She would hold onto her mother, and sometimes her father, as she skipped in and out of church every Sunday. Sometimes she would look up and her curious eyes would land on you. Your heart would lurch into action, if only for a moment. It was nice to be seen, you thought. 

Another baby joined them soon. You looked forward to the days when you would see these two children skip in and out of church. You saw them every week for ten years. 

And then the younger child stopped coming. You saw the older girl, and her family, enter the church, all wearing black. They left, and didn’t look back. She didn’t even look up at you. She always looked up at you. Around the same time, the church got a new bell ringer. A loud, annoying, bratty child with the purest heart you had ever known.

It was a long time before you saw her again. 

She was an adult, the next time you saw her again. Eighteen, you approximated. She wore a pretty green dress and waited outside the church with a sullen expression. A man in a suit, her father, walked past and smiled at her tensely. Soon, a car pulled up outside the church. A woman in a white dress stepped out of the car with a nervous smile. The girl you swore to protect couldn’t even smile at her sincerely. 

You saw her again every so often, but never at the church. She once took a wrong turn at night. She didn’t see the man who followed her. You knocked the man unconscious before she could. She once stepped into an empty street, a car hurtled down the road at a crazy pace. You jumped in front of the car before it got anywhere near. The car was destroyed, the driver lived, your charge didn’t notice. 

The last time you saw her at the church, she was dressed in black. She stood outside in the rain, an umbrella over her head. The congregation entered the church, she followed with a man in a suit, her father, who tried to put his hand on her shoulder. She shook it off. She was the first to leave the church. Without an umbrella, the rain soaked her immediately. She looked up at you. She cheeks were red and puffy, her eyes full of anguish, too much anguish for a young woman. Your heart broke. What use were you as her protector if you couldn’t protect her from pain? 

A woman came out of the church and hugged the girl you were to protect. The newcomer said something, and she laughed. Her smile made me feel warm, a feeling you hadn’t truly experienced in centuries. 

You determined that you would see that smile again. You would find a way to make her happy. You had to. 

Time ticks onwards. As the equinox draws closer, the stone softens and thins. Your heart will soon beat once more. For her.


	2. Chapter 1

A short woman with dark, short hair poked her head out of her bedroom. Her clever eyes scanned the hallway. Silently, she crept out of her room and into the hallway, a large collection of mugs held in her hands. Most of the mugs had wrappers stuffed inside of them. Most of the wrappers where those of cheese. A little embarrassing. 

The short woman crept through the hallway, tiptoed through the living room and reached her destination, the kitchen. She dumped the mugs on the counter, wincing at the loud clattering noise they made.

For a moment, all the woman could hear was the sound of her heart pounding against her chest. All she had to do was dump the wrappers in the bin, wash the mugs really quickly and get out of the kitchen. Silently. Simple, right?

And then she heard it. The clearing of a throat. 

The woman whipped around, turning to face the beautiful woman who interrupted her. The red headed woman raised a delicate eyebrow and smirked knowingly. 

“Hi, Vivi unnie,” the shorter woman squeaked, attempting to hide her mugs. 

“Hello, Haseul. Doing a little washing up, are we?” she asked teasingly. Haseul felt the tips of her ears burn. Her eyes fell to the ground. 

“Maybe,”

Her roommate chuckled. 

“Remember to put the mugs away this time, alright? And will you make me a cup of coffee? I’ve been wanting some coffee for days, but someone was hoarding all of the mugs,” Vivi said. The redness spread onto Haseul’s cheeks. 

“Okay, unnie,”

A few moments later, the two roommates collapsed onto the sofa with steaming hot drinks in their hands. Vivi sipped on her black coffee gracefully while Haseul slurped at her hot chocolate, which was made with water, not because she preffered it made with water (she’s not a heathen) but because she was feeling lazy (and also Vivi didn’t trust her with boiling milk, not after last time). 

Haseul pouted into her hot drink and sighed wistfully. Her roommate rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about her?” Vivi sighed. The younger woman smiled sheepishly.

“How can I not? She was amazing!” Haseul gushed, “I regret not asking her phone number. We could have been girlfriends by now!”

“You met two weeks ago,” Vivi deadpanned. Haseul rolled her eyes at her roommate. 

“And I’ve thought of nothing else since,” the short girl announced dramatically. Vivi shook her head, smiling at her friend’s antics, flashing that cute dimple.

“Calm down, Romeo,” she laughed. Haseul sighed.

“She was so hot, so funny, so dorky, but like, in a cute way. And the little noises she made, oh she was so cute. She made me feel like a lovesick teenager, like Juliet,” 

“Come on, Haseul, darling. You didn’t even fuck. Are you sure you’re not mistaking horniness for love?”

Haseul became defensive. She cried, “You don’t understand! Vivi, I’ve never felt like this before, never had such an instant connection that sends me reeling!”

The red head beside her went silent, the smile slipping off her face. 

“Oh, thanks,” Haseul’s ex-girlfriend mumbled as she removed herself from the couch and stalked into the kitchen. She began to aggressively wash her mug. Grimacing, Haseul lept from the couch and followed her ex.

“Vivi! Unnie! That’s not what I meant and you know that, right?” Haseul whined, “C’mon, unnie, babe, you know that when I first saw you, I gay panicked so hard that I accidently dropped noodle soup down the head teacher’s pants and it kinda looked like he had pissed himself. Besides, it took me weeks to speak to you and when I did, I thought you hated me because you didn’t say much back!”

The corners of Vivi’s lips twitched upwards.

“That’s because I couldn’t speak Korean,”

Smoothly, Haseul turned the red-head around and pressed her against the counter.

“See! We just took a while to get to know each other,” the short girl smiled. Vivi placed one gentle hand on Haseul’s waist, with her other hand, she played with the tips of Haseul’s hair. “With Jungeun, we just clicked right away, you know? But sometimes the build-up makes the end result so much more satisfying,” she finished flirtatiously.

“You’re right, Haseul. Sometimes the build-up is the best bit,” the Cantonese woman replied, her eyes flicking down to Haseul’s lips. Boldly, the shorter woman tilted her head and closed the small distance between their lips.

Making out with her ex-girlfriend, now roommate, wasn’t something that Haseul intended to do often, but this certainly wasn’t the first time it had happened. It was almost to be expected from two people who used to be deeply in love, now live together and maybe still have feelings for each other. But Haseul knew, every time they kissed, every time they fucked, it wasn’t supposed to mean anything. They broke up for a reason. The first time it was because the long distance was killing them. The second time, after Vivi dropped out of business school and (coincidentally) transferred to Haseul’s university, it was because their relationship had changed, they weren’t the same girls who fell in love in high school, they shouldn’t have expected to have the same relationship. They thought living with each other as friends wouldn’t be a problem, they were over each other. A couple of weeks in, they got drunk and slept together. Oops. If you were to ask, the pair would call themselves roommates, best friends. But best friends don’t pin each other to the kitchen counter and make out. In Haseul’s head, she called their relationship ‘best friends/roommates with benefits… and maybe feelings’. 

Eventually, Vivi pulled away and laughed. 

“Someone’s eager, how long has it been since you last had sex?” she chuckled. Blushing, the younger woman admitted,

“A month, maybe? Maybe longer?”

“Aw, and did Jungeun leave Haseulie feeling all frustrated?” the red-head cooed. Haseul nodded like a baby. “Aw, poor baby. Maybe you need a palette cleanser, something to take your mind off her,”

“Yeah, maybe,” Haseul growled, leaning down to kiss her roommate’s neck. Vivi dodged with a smirk. 

“I think you need a real palette cleanser, you know, someone new?” she laughed at Haseul’s frustrated pout. “Come to the bar later. I’ll introduce you to Sooyoung.”

“Sooyoung?” Haseul exclaimed, “But haven’t you slept with her before? Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“Honey, we don’t really have a normal relationship, do we?” Vivi laughed, “And Sooyoung is very good. You’ll forget all about Jungeun, trust me,”

Haseul sighed in defeat. Grinning, Vivi pecked her roommate’s lips and shuffled away, her hands hidden by her sweater paws. 

Haseul watched and shook her head. Only an absolute sex goddess would make her forget Jungeun so easily. 

Haseul found herself face to face with a goddess. The goddess smiled and leant against the bar. Vivi stepped from behind the goddess and put her arm around the goddess’s exposed, slim waist. 

“Haseul, this is Sooyoung. Sooyoung, this is my roommate, Haseul,” the Cantonese girl introduced them gently. 

The goddess didn’t attempt to hide the way she raked her dark eyes up and down Haseul’s body. The short woman suddenly felt very underdressed in her Burberry t-shirt, cuffed jeans and vans. The goddess before her wore expensive looking jeans with a fancy crop-top and a dark blazer. Her hair tumbled down onto her shoulders, framing her gorgeous face. The black heels she wore made her tower over Haseul. 

“Hello, Haseul. I’m surprised I haven’t met you before,” the goddess greeted. Fuck, even her voice was sexy. 

“I- uh, I like the library,” Haseul blurted. Vivi giggled, stepping between the gap between Haseul and Sooyoung to squeeze Haseul’s hand comfortingly. 

“Haseul studies a lot. She’s a music student. She also sleeps a lot,” Vivi announced teasingly. The short haired woman poked her roommate’s cheek playfully, protesting indignantly. 

The red-haired woman laughed and gave Haseul a quick hug. 

“I’ll leave you two to it,” she said, “There’s a girl over there who’s been looking at me since we walked in,”

Haseul looked over her shoulder and saw the dark-haired woman with almost fox-like features that winked at Vivi, making her smile shyly and blush a little. The short woman watched her ex-girlfriend saunter off.

“Jealous?” the goddess said, almost mockingly. Haseul turned back around and saw that Sooyoung was suddenly a lot closer than she was before. 

“No! Of course not,” she exclaimed. The goddess smirked at her. “Vivi and I are just roommates, that’s all.”

“Right,” Sooyoung drawled sarcastically, “How about I buy you a drink, beautiful?”

She waved down the waiter and bought Haseul the drink of her choosing (she panicked and chose a beer that didn’t even really like) and a classy cocktail for herself. Haseul tried not to grimace when she sipped on the beer, it was rough as hell. She thought taking large gulps might make it go down easier. Why didn’t she just go for a basic ass vodka and coke? At least she liked that. This was a terrible idea. Why did she come to this bar to pull a random woman when she could be at home eating cheese slices and wallowing about the girl she met a couple of weeks ago and her roommate that she sort of still had feelings for?

Sooyoung interrupted her thoughts.

“So then, music huh?”

Haseul stopped in front of the door to the building which her apartment was in awkwardly. 

“Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me home,” she thanked the goddess in front of her. Sooyoung smiled gently. Despite her intimidating appearance, she was soft, charming and funny, a bit dorky too. Sort of like Jungeun… but that wasn’t who Haseul should be thinking about. 

“It’s no problem, sweetheart,” the taller woman said smoothly. There was an awkward pause. “Can I kiss you?”

Haseul nodded eagerly. Sooyoung smirked and leant down, pulling Haseul towards her. Instinctively, the shorter woman snaked her arms around the goddess’s neck and kissed her softly. It was nice. It was very good. Sooyoung’s lips were soft and tasted a little bit like the cherry lip-gloss Vivi used to wear in high school. Sooyoung was a good kisser, there was no denying that. She gently licked Haseul’s lips and pushed her tongue inside of her mouth. The shorter woman stepped backwards to steady herself and found herself against the wall. The taller woman slid her thigh between Haseul’s legs. The short haired woman didn’t bother trying to fight the high-pitched moan that escaped her lips. Sooyoung smiled into the kiss. 

The sound of a door closing shocked the two women apart. A young woman, another student, left the building, giving the two women a strange look. 

“I, uh, do you want to come in?” Haseul asked, stuttering. Sooyoung smirked, her eyes lighting up triumphantly. 

“I’d love to.”

The two women made their way into the apartment complex and quickly made their way to Haseul’s flat, of course they made out in the elevator on the way up.

Haseul dropped her keys into the key bowl on her way in. While Sooyoung popped into the toilet, Haseul pulled out her phone and checked her makeup. She found Vivi’s wine glasses and poured them a small glass of wine each. When the tall woman emerged from the bathroom, Haseul leant seductively on the counter and handed her a glass of wine.

“Classy,” the other woman remarked, swallowing the wine in one quick gulp. The two talked in the kitchen for a little longer, before Sooyoung took her hand and asked, “Can we move this to your bedroom?”

Haseul nodded wordlessly, placing her half-full wine glass on the counter, and led the taller woman into her bedroom. She was thankful she had the sense to clean it up, make it presentable. 

Sooyoung’s eyes scanned her room, her eyes fell on a picture on Haseul’s bookshelf. She sauntered over to it and smiled.

“Is that you?” she asked, pointing at the young girl in the picture. Haseul nodded. “You were so cute! Still are. Those must be your parents. Is that your younger sibling?” she pointed at the baby swaddled in her Christening dress. 

“Yeah, sister,” Haseul said, her voice tense. She willed Sooyoung to move on from the photo.

“She looks so tiny! I love babies. How old is she now?” the tall woman cooed. 

“She’s dead,” Haseul announced, her voice low. She caught the way Sooyoung’s eyebrows knitted together, she looked confused. The flash of confusion was quickly replaced by sympathy.

“I’m sorry,”

“Maybe we should stop talking,” Haseul marched up to the taller woman and pulled her into a hot kiss. The pair soon collapsed onto Haseul’s bed. Clothes were ripped off almost immediately.

Haseul leant back on her elbows and observed the woman before her, the goddess in nothing but her underwear. She was beautiful. Sooyoung tied her hair back and lowered herself down, teasingly pulling off the short woman’s underwear. Haseul’s back arched when Sooyoung’s tongue pressed against her clit. She licked at her eagerly, skilfully. She clearly knew what she was doing. Haseul was drowning in bliss. 

The woman replaced her tongue with her fingers and pushed herself forwards, kissing Haseul eagerly. The shorter woman responded by kissing Sooyoung with equal vigour and wrapping her arms around her lithe body, clinging onto her. 

Her hands glided over her back, and found long, odd ridges on the other woman’s back. They went from her shoulder blades down to the middle of her back. They were evenly spaced, two sets of two ridges on either side of her spine. Like scars, Haseul supposed, two big scars on either side of her spine. Sooyoung hissed when she ran her hands down the length of the two scars. Suddenly, everything went black.

When Haseul opened her eyes, she was no longer writhing under Sooyoung anymore. Instead she was met by a blinding, white light that reflected off the marble pillars around her. She was surrounded by men and women, no not men and women. Not humans. They wore robes of white, yellow, gold, and other pale colours. No red, no black. Their skin seemed to shine and pulse with a golden light. Their eyes were like golden flames. Their wings were the most beautiful things Haseul had ever seen. Some were pure white like a dove’s, some mottled with brown and grey, some were gold, bright and powerful. 

Haseul became that she was on her knees, held there by two powerful hands, one on either shoulder blade. Her hands were cuffed, as were her wings. 

A man in a golden robe with hair like flames landed in front of her, unfurling his silver wings. 

“Yves, you have disobeyed God. Today, you must repent for your crimes, or suffer the consequences,” he announced. To Haseul, his voice was painful, like the sound of nails scratching down a white board, or the feeling of fire burning your skin off. To her new ears, the voice was loud, but unremarkable. “How do you respond to the accusations laid before you?”

The figure began to list off the sins she had supposedly committed.

Haseul tilted her head to the left against her will. Her eyes connected with three other women. One had a childlike face, she was shaking her head. Her wings were pure white. The second had wings the same colour as her hair, golden. Tears dripped down her cheeks. The third had flushed cheeks and a stoic expression, but her eyes shone like diamonds. Her wings were so white they were blinding to looks at.

“Yves, how do you respond to your sins? Let me hear you repent,” the man flicked his fiery tendrils out of his face.

“Why should I repent when my only sin was to ask a simple question? Is it truly sinful to disobey God?” Haseul responded. Her voice was loud and deep, reverberating with power and warmth. The figure before her clenched his fists, his face twisted with fury. 

“If you cannot see the sins in your actions, you are beyond saving,” he roared. “Yves, from now onwards, thou shalt be cast from the heavens for all eternity. Thou shalt never return to the heavens, even if thou were to repent on Earth. Thy actions have damned thee for eternity.”

Someone screamed. It was herself. The pain she felt was excruciating. Her wings were ripped from her back, the heavenly fire that ran through her veins began to leak out of her body and dissipate into the air around her. A hand yanked on her hair and she forced to look into the cold, grey eyes of the man in front of her. 

“Sinner,” he hissed. He placed his hand on the top of her head and pushed. Her body broke through the clouds and began to plummet towards the Earth. She wished for a death she knew would never happen. The last thing she heard was a woman’s voice yell,

“Yves!”

Haseul felt like her body crashed down onto her bed as consciousness returned to her. 

“Shit, what happened?” Haseul said, her voice sounded raspy, as if she had been screaming. Her mouth tasted weird, it had this strange, metallic taste. It was almost like blood. But when she licked her lips, she could taste no blood on her lips, only cherry lip-gloss and wine. 

The woman beside her looked frightened. Her brows were furrowed and lips were pressed together, but the colour had drained from her face and her eyes were wide, but still unreadable. 

“You passed out,” Sooyoung announced, “Maybe someone roofied you,”

Haseul shook her head, “No, I felt fine before I passed out. Barely tipsy.”

“Well, I can’t think of another reason,” the raven-haired woman snapped. Haseul winced. The other woman immediately softened. “Sorry, I- something like this has never happened before. I’m sort of freaking out.”

Haseul hummed, rubbing her forehead. She couldn’t get the image of the grey eyed man looking down at her with so much hate in his eyes out of her head. Two words rang in her ears. The sinister whisper of ‘sinner’. The cry of ‘Yves’.

“Sooyoung? Who’s Yves?” Haseul blurted, looking at the other woman. Any remaining colour drained from her face completely. Her jaw clenched and her hands rolled up into balls. She remained silent, staring at Haseul.

Finally, she spoke. 

“Do you want me to fuck you, or not?” she asked, a little harshly.

“I think me passing out killed the mood a bit, don’t you think?” the short woman replied sarcastically. Sooyoung sighed and rolled away from Haseul, sitting up on the edge of the bed. Haseul caught the sight of those two ugly, scars that ran down her back. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. You can stay and… well, cuddle, I guess?”

Sooyoung looked over her shoulder.

“You’re cute, Haseul. But I think it would be best if I left,” she mumbled as she stood up and shoved her pants back on. 

“Oh, okay,” the short haired woman mumbled, feeling a little dejected. 

“I’ll show myself out,” Sooyoung declared. Haseul suddenly remembered that this wasn’t the first time Sooyoung had been in her flat. She nodded at the taller woman briefly. 

As soon as she heard the door shut, Haseul let herself cry. Her tears stung her cheeks, like they were filled with flames. Haseul wept into her pillow, whispers ringing around her head. “Sinner” “Yves” “Thy actions have damned thee for eternity”.


	3. Chapter 2

Haseul was sat on the couch wrapped up in a blanket burrito when Vivi walked through the door. She greeted her roommate and sat beside her, waiting for Haseul to let her into the burrito. The short haired woman glanced at her friend and opened up the burrito for her. She looked at her, spotting the hickey that poked out from the collar of Vivi’s shirt, and giggled. 

“Looks like someone had fun last night,” Haseul remarked. 

“We didn’t fuck. We just kissed a bit. I’m going to see her again. Not romantically, but she’s Chinese and wants to introduce me to her other Chinese friends,” Vivi said shyly. 

“Aw, that’s so wholesome!” Haseul cooed as her roommate snuggled up to her. 

“How did things go with Sooyoung?” Vivi asked innocently. 

Haseul paused and sighed heavily. Part of her wondered if she should be honest. It felt like one half of her was screaming, desperate to tell someone. Another part of her compelled her to keep her mouth shut. One side shouted louder than the other.

“Um, it was really good until we got here, then I had a funny turn in bed and Sooyoung left,” Haseul finally mumbled.

“A funny turn?” the red-haired girl questioned, her voice low and concerned. 

“Yeah, I like low-key passed out. It’s fine though, I’m fine. It was just, weird. Totally killed the mood,” the short haired girl chuckled, trying to calm Vivi who’s concerns had only grown. The Chinese woman began to fuss over her roommate, checking her temperature and asking if she was dehydrated or hungry. Haseul waved away her concerns with a laugh. Although one question did burn on her tongue.

“Vivi unnie?” she asked carefully, “Do you know how Sooyoung got the scars on her back?”

Her roommate tilted her head in confusion. 

“Y’know the big ass scars,” Haseul pointed to a scar of hers, in case Vivi was unsure about the word. She only frowned deeper. 

“Sooyoung doesn’t have any scars,” the red-haired woman said, her voice low and unsure, her eyebrows knitted together. 

“Maybe you just didn’t see them,” Haseul muttered, desperate for a solution to this issue. Vivi only shook her head.

“Haseul, love, I have explored every inch of her body, and her skin is perfect,” Vivi said softly, the concern evident in her gentle tone. “Maybe you were drugged or something and that made you see things?”

“That’s what Sooyoung suggested,” Haseul hummed. She knew what she saw. There was no way she could have imagined the feeling of running her fingers over the misshapen ridges that lined the woman’s back. Vivi wouldn’t lie to her, she knew that. So why couldn’t Vivi see those scars? Haseul huffed. Something was wrong. There was undeniably something wrong. 

After a while, Vivi broke the tense silence as she clambered out of the blanket burrito. 

“Haseulie, I’m going to go and shower. Heejin and Hyunjin are coming over for lunch. I’m cooking for them, you’re very welcome to join,” Vivi said warmly. 

Haseul perked up. She loved those little scamps. And she loved not having to cook. It was a win-win situation.

“Sounds great. I’ll clean up a little before they come,” she offered. Her roommate smiled gently and pressed a gentle kiss to Haseul’s cheek before she sauntered off. Haseul snuggled back into her blanket and soon found herself dozing again, the same words she heard the previous night still rang in her ears, the image of Sooyoung’s scars burned into the backs of her eyelids. 

A few hours later, there was a loud knock on the door which forced Haseul awake. She awoke to a delightful smell, which signified that Vivi was in the kitchen. There was another loud knock on the door. Sometimes Vivi listened to music while cooking, that would probably explain why she wasn’t answering the door.

Groggily, Haseul rolled off the sofa and shuffled towards the door. She opened the door and smiled. 

“Merry Christmas!” Heejin and Hyunjin shouted. Both wore hideous Christmas jumpers and Hyunjin had a box in her hand. 

“It’s not even December,” Haseul grumbled at the pair at her door, who seemed to buzz with excitement. 

“But it’s not October anymore, we’ve had Halloween and now it’s time for Christmas!” Heejin announced brightly. Smirking, Hyunjin pulled a bottle out of the box she was holding. 

“And we brought mulled wine,” she said in her usual toneless voice. Haseul smirked and moved sideways to let the girls in. “Nice pajamas,” Hyunjin sneered teasingly as she walked past. Haseul looked down at her green pajamas with white birds on them and blushed. She heard Heejin berate her friend as they wondered into apartment, and head straight for the kitchen.

“Just let Vivi unnie know that I’m going to get dressed. I won’t be long,” Haseul called after the two girls as she headed into her own room. Haphazardly, the short haired woman shoved on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie and then ran a brush through her hair, flattening it so it wasn’t stuck up. As she looked in the mirror, she spotted a little hickey peeking out of her hoodie. It was only small, not big enough to hurt. But big enough to be seen. Shit, she reckoned Heejin and Hyunjin probably saw. Well, Hyunjin definitely saw, Heejin might not have noticed. Blushing, she pulled up the neckline of her hoodie and cleared her throat in front of the empty room. 

When Haseul approached the kitchen, she could see Vivi stood at the stove, probably stirring something. Hyunjin was filling a saucepan with the mulled wine and adding spices to it. Heejin must have been sat down, she was forbidden from touching kitchen equipment after the time she nearly set the apartment on fire cooking instant noodles. Haseul froze when she heard her name. 

“Unnie, how is Haseul unnie doing? She always struggles more at this time of year,” Haseul heard Heejin’s unmistakeable deep voice. The short woman bit her lip and hid behind the wall, listening to what was being said about her. She heard Vivi sigh.

“She’s been okay, so far. She met a girl a couple of weeks ago that she’s been thinking about a lot, so I think that’s kept her mind busy,” Vivi replied cautiously. 

“Oh? She met someone? How are you feeling about that?”

Haseul could imagine the shy smile on her roommate’s lips when she replied. 

“It’s fine. Haseul and I broke up a long time ago. She deserves the chance to move on. I think, with us moving in together so close to our break-up, neither of us moved on properly. Maybe she’ll be able to move on. Although, she hasn’t seen the girl since,” Vivi replied. 

“I’ll never understand why you don’t just date again,” Hyunjin piped up. Haseul felt herself turn a little red. “I mean, you guys were great together in high school and you clearly still have feelings for each other.”

“We were great in high school, Hyunjin. High school. When I came back and we tried again, it just wasn’t the same. We had changed too much and you guys know Haseul was in a very bad place at that time. As much as I wish we were, Haseul and I aren’t meant to be,” 

Hearing the speech was like a blow to Haseul’s chest. Her heart ached with renewed pain she thought was gone. The worst thing was that Vivi was right, they weren’t meant to be. They were better off as friends. Haseul rested her head against the wall and sighed. Maybe they weren’t meant to be, but that didn’t make her feelings any less real. She was sure she’d get over her roommate eventually, she’d made so much progress already. She didn’t feel the urge to cry whenever she looked at Vivi, like she did when they first broke up. 

She heard Hyunjin change the topic, asking Vivi for a spoon that she could stir the mulled wine with, and took that as a cue to enter the kitchen with a cheery smile. Haseul took a seat beside Heejin at the ‘not allowed to go anywhere near the oven’ table and the four chatted while Hyunjin served the hot wine and Vivi plated their lunch. 

Once the food was eaten, Heejin and Hyunjin smiled shyly at each other and nervously told Haseul and Vivi that they had an announcement. 

“We’re dating,” the pair said in unison after a long, nerve-wracking pause. “We’re officially girlfriends,” Hyunjin clarified. 

Haseul and Vivi made eye contact silently. The red-haired woman reach out to hold one of Heejin’s baby hands and one of Hyunjin’s shovels. 

“We know,” Vivi said softly, and then patted their hands before pulling her hands back onto her lap. The couple’s faces were a picture that made Haseul howl with laughter. 

“Come on, haven’t you been dating since high school?” Haseul laughed. The couple exchanged a confused look.

“No, we only started dating a few weeks ago and we made it official yesterday. You guys are the first people we told,” Heejin whined. Haseul and Vivi glanced at each other and burst out laughing once more. 

“Let me guess, you asked out Hyunjin on her birthday so that you could never forget your anniversary,” Haseul drawled. Heejin’s usually pale cheeks darkened as she vehemently denied doing such a thing. 

“Who said Heejin was the one who did the asking out?” Hyunjin piped up once the laughter quieted. 

“Sweetie, Heejin is much better with words than you are. Besides, how long did it take for you realise that Heejin wasn’t straight?” Vivi asked, rubbing the cat-like girl’s hands. 

“I literally have a bi pride flag in my room, and you still thought I was straight,” Heejin deadpanned. 

“On the topic of birthdays, Hyunjin I have something for you,” Vivi abruptly rose from her seat and dragged the tall girl out of the kitchen. 

That left Haseul and Heejin alone. The older woman smiled nervously at the younger, who smiled comfortingly.

“Thank you, Haseul, for the pep talk you gave me last week. If it wasn’t for that, Hyunjin and I would have never made it official,” the pale girl said sincerely. Haseul simply shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Also, I was gonna text you later but I might as well do it in person. We’re thinking of holding a surprise birthday party for Vivi-unnie.”

The two women briefly discussed the party, agreeing to go supply shopping once Hyunjin returned. Eventually Haseul asked Heejin a question she’d been dying to know the answer to.

“Heejin, I know this is out of the blue, but do you still see people with, like, horns and wings and shit?” the older woman asked tentatively.

The pale girl turned impossibly paler. Her grip on the wine glass tightened, her knuckles glaring white. 

“What are you, my therapist?” she laughed awkwardly. Haseul frowned at Heejin until she sighed, the happy mask slipping off her face to reveal the exhausted face that lay behind it.

“Yeah, I still see it. Have done since I was a baby. You know as well as I do that the meds I took didn’t make it stop, they just gave me anxiety,” Heejin pushed her hair out of her face. “Don’t tell Hyunjin, she doesn’t know I still see them.”

Haseul nodded respectfully. She looked down at her fingers and bit her lip. 

“I, um, I saw something last night. I saw two scars on a woman’s back, it was like she had wings that were ripped from her back. And when I touched them, I passed out and had a vision,” Haseul mumbled. Heejin frowned.

“Unnie, I’m saying this because I love you, but are you still taking your meds?”

“My meds are for depression and anxiety, dumbass! Not visions. And yes, I’m still on them. I’m not stupid,” Haseul snarled defensively, and suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to take her medication that day, oopsie. Big oopsie. 

“Well, anyway,” Heejin continued, “You saw some scars on a girl and had a vision. What was the vision about?”

Haseul explained the vision to her friend, the marble pillars, the winged people that surrounded her. She described the male who declared Yves’ sins and almost relived the pain she felt when Yves’ wings were ripped from her. 

“Unnie, I think you had a religious experience of some kind,” Heejin announced after an awkward pause.

Haseul snorted, “I’m an atheist. Have been since Mum died,”

Heejin frowned, “You know, the pastor at my church says that the people I see may be demons in their true form. Maybe you can see angels? Maybe the place you saw was heaven, the people you saw angels.” Haseul remained silent. “Look, why don’t you come with me to church and we can speak someone. Maybe they’ll be able to help and if they can’t, you can just play it off as being drunk or something, I don’t know.”

“I have too many bad memories of church,” Haseul shook her head, “I don’t even know why you still go. Aren’t they dicks to people like you and me?”

Heejin smiled gently, “There’s a new pastor in training at our church who is in a relationship with two women. Two! They’re progressive. Maybe I can have you meet with her, she’s been helpful with my problem.”

The older of the two sighed in defeat and agreed to be dragged to church, after they did some shopping for Vivi’s surprise party of course. 

Hyunjin soon re-entered the kitchen, a face splitting grin on her face. She held a canvas in her hands. 

“Heejin, look! It’s me!” she showed the picture to her girlfriend. On the canvas was a painted portrait of Hyunjin. Except it wasn’t quite Hyunjin, it had yellow eyes and feline ears sticking out of its head. The smile was impish and mischievous, revealing long, sharp canines. Heejin’s face paled when she looked at the portrait. 

“Wow, it’s gorgeous,” she said, her voice strained. 

“Vivi-unnie painted it for me! She gave me kitty ears, because I’m a kitty cat!”

“Hey, Vivi-unnie, Hyunjin and I are taking Haseul-unnie out shopping. Do you think we can leave the portrait here and come back for it at another point?” Heejin asked as she stood up, eyes purposefully avoiding the portrait. 

The older woman looked a little confused, and possibly hurt, by Heejin’s reaction. Haseul made a mental note to talk to Heejin about it, and comfort Vivi later. Haseul felt the eyes of the portrait stare at her as she was dragged out of the house.


	4. Chapter 3

The three women had gone shopping for one purpose only, to get Vivi some birthday gifts and to buy supplies for her surprise birthday party, which they would hold on her birthday. Of course, all three girls got distracted by the pretty clothes and what not. 

Heejin and Haseul were sat outside the changing rooms, waiting for Hyunjin to try on all the dresses she liked since Haseul promised to buy her one as a late birthday gift. Once she deemed it safe to talk, Haseul turned her head sharply to her younger friend.

“Heejin, why did you upset Vivi-unnie by being so weird about her portrait of Hyunjin?” she whispered sharply. Heejin fiddled with the straps of her bag.

“I didn’t mean to upset her, but the portrait freaked me out,” Heejin whispered in return, “I didn’t just see Hyunjin with cat ears, I saw some sort of demonic version of Hyunjin with yellow eyes that followed me and pointy teeth and black veins. That’s not Hyunjin, I know it’s not. But something is wrong with that portrait.”

“Wait, so the yellow eyes and pointy teeth weren’t intentional?”

“I don’t know. But Hyunjin couldn’t see the yellow eyes, that’s for sure. She was going on early about how Vivi managed to paint her eyes the exact shade of brown that they actually are,”

“Shit. That’s creepy,” Haseul hummed, “But why could I see the demon version. I’ve never seen stuff like you have before,”

Before Heejin could reply, Hyunjin emerged from the dressing room with one dress draped over her arm and a grin on her pretty face. Of course, Hyunjin had chosen the most expensive dress. But apparently, it made her butt look good, and Haseul was very amused by how Heejin went red when her girlfriend announced that so who was she to turn down the birthday girl’s late wishes?

Having spent more money than Haseul ever intended to spend, the three women settled in a café drinking overpriced coffee. Haseul purposefully sat in the eye line of a gorgeous dark-haired woman, who was sat talking to her friend. The woman had intense eyes, a sharp jawline and pale skin. Her eyes met Haseul’s and her lips quirked upwards into a smirk. 

“Ooh, someone likes you,” Heejin teased, nudging her friend. The short haired woman was sure she was blushing. Adverting her gaze, she sipped on her coffee. 

When the three women had nearly finished, Haseul spotted the hot woman and her companion stand up and shove their coats on. While the other girl waited by the door, the hot lady approached Haseul’s table with a confident smile. 

“Hi! Uh, I know this is super bold, but, uh, hi! I’m Jinsoul. You’re gorgeous,” the woman’s voice was fairly deep and her tone was nervous, contrasting the confident smile on her face. 

Haseul introduced herself shyly, ignoring the giggles coming from Heejin and Hyunjin. 

“Feel free to say no, but can I maybe get your number?” Jinsoul asked, the nervousness starting to show on her face. Nodding eagerly, the short woman entered her phone number into the other woman’s outstretched hand. Grinning like a tiger who had cornered its prey, Jinsoul said smoothly, “I’ll see you around beautiful.” 

As she leaned closer to Haseul, the short woman noticed the blue gleam around the pupil of one of her eyes. Jinsoul winked and sauntered off. 

Once she was out of earshot, Hyunjin started to laugh.

“Dude, did you see how crunchy her hair was? She must have been blonde for a long fucking time,” the cat-like girl laughed. Haseul frowned. 

“Her hair was black,” she said. Hyunjin snorted. 

“Are you high or something? She was blonde as fuck!” Hyunjin exclaimed. Heejin shot Haseul a look which made her shut up. Haseul played it off as a joke, chuckling about the woman’s fried locks. Heejin must have seen it too, the dark hair and the blue glint in her eye. Perhaps she shouldn’t have given the strange woman her phone number. 

Hyunjin buggered off quickly when Heejin told her she was taking Haseul to church. When Haseul was faced with the dark, imposing building, she wished she had done the same. The spires cast shadows in front of the church that waned and waxed with the light of the sun. Gargoyles and grotesques lined the walls, they cast their hideous, stone eyes over the people who walked by the church, casting judgement and igniting fear. 

There was one gargoyle that had always caught Haseul’s eye. It was on the highest point of the church. It was a little less ugly than the other gargoyles. This stone creature perched on the wall, gripping onto the brick with stone claws. Its long fangs jutted over its lip. Bat like wings were folded against its back, ready to unfurl at a moment’s notice. This gargoyle seemed to be wearing clothes, unlike the other naked creatures. There seemed to be a stone robe or dress which covered its stone body. What had always struck Haseul was the feminine aura the gargoyle gave off. Its hair was long and wild, permanently blown outwards by the non-existent wind, almost like a mane. The face could have belonged to a woman. When Haseul gazed upon the blank face of the gargoyle, she felt a sense of familiarity. Perhaps it was just the reminder of all the times she had visited church as a child. All the times she had felt a weird sense of security every time looked up into the stone eyes of her favourite gargoyle. Haseul chuckled bitterly. What child has a favourite gargoyle?

Haseul probably would have stared up at the gargoyles and grotesques all day if Heejin hadn’t grabbed her hand and pulled her into the church. 

The inside of the church was empty, save for a few people pottering about the pews. Before stepping fully into the church, both women dipped their fingers into the basin of water and made the sign of the cross against her chest. Haseul heard the little whimpers Heejin produced when her fingers entered the water, and again when she made the sign of the cross. Heejin quickly wiped her fingers on her skirt and strode down the aisle, ignoring Haseul’s questioning look. 

“You stay here,” Heejin instructed, “I’m going to find Pastor Kim.”

Feeling very out of place, Haseul sat down on one of the wooden pews. She used to hate these wooden benches. She always wished that her parents would let her put the kneeling cushion that was under the bench under her bum, but they said every week that it was disrespectful to do that. 

After a few minutes of staring at the stained glass, Haseul got bored. She stood up and wondered down the sides of the church, looking at all of the paintings and statues that lined the impressive church. She came to a stand full of candles. She didn’t know what possessed her to do it, but she bought one, just a cheap tea light that would probably only burn for a few minutes at most. Slowly, she raised the tea light to another candle, the wicks looming closer, and then she hesitated. Grumbling to herself, Haseul shoved the candle’s wick into the flame of another, lighting it, and then put her candle down on the mantelpiece. For the first time in years, in nearly seven years, she prayed. She prayed for her lost sister. She prayed that she’d either be safe on Earth, or happy in heaven. She prayed for her mother and her soul. She even prayed for her father whom she hadn’t spoken to since the funeral. She prayed for Heejin and the monstrous people she saw. She prayed for Hyunjin and her internalised sadness. She prayed for Vivi, prayed that she’d find someone who could make her as happy as she once made Haseul. She prayed for Jungeun, the mysterious woman she met, and prayed that she thought of her, wherever she may be. Hell, she even prayed for Sooyoung. 

When Haseul opened her eyes, the candle had gone out. 

“Well, that was one hell of a prayer,” said a voice from behind Haseul. The short haired woman snorted and began to turn to face the owner of the voice as she spoke. 

“Yeah, well, it’s been a long time since I’ve-” Haseul cut herself off when she glanced at the girl in front of her. It couldn’t be, could it? 

Seven years had passed. Seven years. And yet she still looked the same. Still had the same adorably round face. The same mischievous grin and clever eyes. Her hair was brown now, and way longer than it had been all those years ago. She was taller now, just about, and more mature. The maturity was obvious in the way she regarded Haseul.

“Hajin?” Haseul breathed. The girl scrunched up her nose. 

“Who’s that?” she questioned, “I’m Yeojin.”

Haseul was snapped out of her stupor. 

“I’m sorry, you just look exactly like my sister,” the short haired woman apologised. The girl shot her a weird look. 

“Okay. That’s weird. Well, lady, I’ve never seen you before in my life,” the young woman announced. Haseul nodded solemnly. A deep, booming voice called out the girl’s name, Yeojin. She winced and did a weird salute. “Bye, weird sad lady.”

Her mouth agape, Haseul watched the little woman scuttle away. 

“I am fucking losing it,” the short woman muttered as she put her head in her hands. 

It wasn’t long before Heejin reappeared with a woman in a white robe trailing behind her. The new woman was very pale with blonde hair and squishy looking cheeks. Her smile was blinding. 

“Haseul-unnie! This is Pastor Kim,” Heejin announced brightly. The woman laughed. 

“Assistant Pastor,” she corrected, “And I’ve told you a hundred times, call me Dahyun.” The woman turned to Haseul and held her hand out, “Hi, I’m Kim Dahyun, pleasure to meet you.”

Haseul gingerly shook the woman’s hand, quietly introducing herself. 

Once introductions were over, the pale pastor seated Haseul and Heejin on the pews and listened intently to Haseul’s story. The short haired woman recounted her story and the vision she saw. She decided to leave out the part where she was getting fucked by the woman who’s scars she touched, and didn’t disclose how she’d been able to touch the scars. The woman frowned in interest. She pulled out a notepad and pen from her robes and smiled comfortingly.

“Could you describe the place you saw in more detail?” she asked kindly. Haseul described the marble pillars that reflected the light that cascaded down from nowhere. There was no sun, yet there was only light. Dahyun asked for detail about the people she was. Haseul described the man who spoke, declaring Yves’ punishment, in detail. She described his wings that shone with silver light, his dark skin that seemed to ripple with gold streaks, his fiery tendrils of hair, his unloving grey eyes. She didn’t describe the three women who she felt connected to as Yves, she couldn’t bring herself to. There was something wrong about disclosing that information, something she couldn’t explain. 

The assistant pastor hummed, her head rested on her chin in thought. 

“Well, I’ve read about religious experiences before. This sounds quite different. I haven’t heard of people seeing heaven from the eyes of an angel before,” Dahyun spoke in a serious tone. “And I’ve never read of an angel called Yves before.”

“You think I saw heaven from the eyes of an angel?” Haseul squeaked in disbelief. 

Dahyun smiled comfortingly, “It seems like the most likely option.”

“Do you think the woman who’s scars I touched, do you think she was Yves? Is she a fallen angel or something?” 

“I have read accounts in the past of people with holy blood touching the scars of fallen angels and seeing a vision of their heavenly past. Just as some of those with unholy blood may touch certain demons and see part of their demonic life, if you can call it life,” Dahyun wisely replied. Heejin and Haseul glanced at each other. 

“So, angels and demons are all real? They’re not things made up to scare us into being good and godly and all that shit,” Haseul exclaimed, “I’ve met a fallen fucking angel?”

“Perhaps,” the young paster scratched her blonde head. She grinned suddenly. “So the angel you met? Did you get her name? Or did she introduce herself as Yves?”

“She introduced herself as Yves,” Haseul blurted. She wasn’t sure what stopped her from revealing the name of Ha Sooyoung, but something did. 

Dahyun sighed. 

“Strange. Look, I’ll consult the scriptures and see if I can find any meaning in your vision. I’ll see if I can find any reason for you being able to see this woman’s scars. Haseul-ssi, please be assured that you aren’t going crazy,”

Haseul thought to the girl she saw moments ago who was the spitting image of her (probably) dead sister, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she mumbled under her breath.

“I hope to see you again, Jo Haseul,” the young pastor said with a grin, “I’ll pray for you.”

Somehow that didn’t bring her comfort. 

Her arms filled with bags full of birthday decorations, Haseul wondered down the streets. It had turned dark by the time she and Heejin left the church, more confused than when they entered it. 

Questions raced through Haseul’s mind. She willed them fuck off before they spiralled into the panic attack Haseul felt lurking in her lungs. 

Out of the corner of her eye, the short woman spotted something fall and heard a muffled crash. The object looked almost, human? Haseul’s eyes widened and she began to race towards the fallen object. Had someone jumped from a building? Maybe they had slipped off a roof when trying to attach Christmas decorations. Her dad did that when she was kid and broke an arm and a leg. 

Haseul slowed down with the figure came into view, she began to approach the figure slowly. It seemed like the body of a young woman in a gold dress, curled up in a ball. Her hands were cradled protectively around her head, her auburn hair spread out around her like a halo. 

Slowly, Haseul approached the woman and placed a hand on her arm. Her skin was warm, hot even. Haseul carefully placed two fingers on the unconscious woman’s neck, letting out a sigh of relief when she felt the strong pulse. 

Suddenly, the girl’s eyes burst open. She let out a pained scream as she sat up and launched herself backwards, away from Haseul. Suddenly, a pair of ragged, crooked, wings unfurled from the woman’s back and Haseul felt like she had been hit with a ton of bricks. She had seen this woman before, she had seen her weep as Yves’ wings were ripped from her. The one with the childlike face and white wings. Her wings had changed. What were once impressive now looked frail and broken.

“Your wings…” Haseul breathed in sympathy. 

The girl’s face contorted in agony, golden tears dripped from her eyes. 

“You can see them?” the girl spoke. Her voice was hoarse, as she had worn it out from screaming. Haseul nodded as she crept towards the woman.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to call an ambulance or something?”

The girl shook her auburn head as she stood on wobbly legs. Her wings quivered behind her.

Eyes full of hope, the woman titled her head upwards and set her jaw in determination. She jumped upwards then, wings flapping uselessly, she fell back towards the ground. Haseul dropped the bags in her arms and caught the poor woman just in time. 

“A-are you an angel?” Haseul blurted. The woman looked at her and then smiled. 

“Yes, well, it seems like I used to be,” she chuckled, her voice still raw. She allowed Haseul to help her to her feet. “So, this is earth, huh?” 

Sighing, the woman brushed down her tattered dress and smiled, the grin was disarmingly bright and charming despite the poor angel’s situation.

“If you’ll excuse me, miss, I must go. I need to find someone,” the girl announced. Haseul blinked in disbelief. As the girl began to walk away, Haseul grabbed her arm. 

“Wait, you can’t just walk around like that. You’ll freeze to death. It’s not safe,” the short woman plead. The angel looked confused, then her expression softened. 

“I suppose it is quite chilly,” 

“Right,” Haseul nodded. God, she couldn’t believe she was about to suggest, “You can come home with me, if you like? Come sleep on my couch or something?”

The girl visibly considered the offer for a moment. 

“Okay,” she agreed with a trusting smile. 

The girl opened her mouth, announcing her name, but a gust of wind roared into Haseul’s ears.

“What was that? Ji? Oo? Jiwoo was it?”

The girl froze for a moment before she grinned again, “Uh, sure. Jiwoo it is.”

“Well, my name is Haseul. I’ll take good care you Jiwoo,” Haseul said comfortingly. She removed her coat, feeling the cold air nip ferociously at her skin, and draped it over Jiwoo’s shoulders. The angel grinned in thanks. Haseul then gathered her shopping bags and took Jiwoo’s arm, leading her to her home.


	5. Chapter 4

You see her again, looking up at you with curious eyes. It makes you feel warm. She enters the church, and she doesn’t look up at you as she leaves. You feel cold again when she leaves. 

If you could sigh, you would. The fleeting warmth you felt when saw her for a moment was nothing compared to the roaring flame inside of your chest that burst to life when you met her in person. She’s all you can think about, her gentle voice, her glittering eyes, her everything. 

You met on Halloween, the day when you could finally move from your stone alter, your stone turned to skin. You didn’t expect to meet her. You had become human many times before, several times a year, but you still never met her. Perhaps it was by chance that she walked into the same bar that you were in. She was dressed as a vampire, you presumed, wearing a white shirt, tight black pants and fake fangs. Your heart skipped a beat when she made eye contact with her. 

She was the one who introduced herself to you. It was eight pm, the bar had only been open for half an hour. She bought you a non-alcoholic drink, because you didn’t want to drink. She said was waiting for her friends, they were going to go to a Halloween party. She shyly asked if you wanted to join. You glanced at the time on the wall. You agreed cautiously. 

While her friends arrived, and talked among themselves, she talked to you and sipped on her cocktail. She was charming, interesting, everything you’d hoped she’d be. Her jokes were terrible, but the smile that formed on her face as she spoke them made your head reel. Nothing and no one had ever made you feel this way. 

Her university friends dragged her out of the bar and she grabbed your hand, telling you that her friends from university only cared about getting drunk and talking about boys. She asked you what you cared about. You said you cared about protecting the ones you love. She smiled sadly at you and her heart broke. She told you she had failed to do that. 

At the party, she asked you to dance. She asked you to dance, and you agreed immediately. It wasn’t the type of dancing you envisioned. You hadn’t been to a party since the 1800s. When you held your hand out to her, she bit her lip and pulled you close, your front against her front. You thought you were going wild with the way she moved her hips. She turned around and grinded against your crotch. You closed your eyes and nuzzled her neck, trying not to lose yourself. You thought your heart might give out at any minute. 

She turned back around and kissed you gently. It was better than everything you had dreamed about for the past years since the last time you saw her in front of the church. She was amazing. You didn’t let her deepen the kiss, you wanted to savour her. 

She said she wanted to leave, you told her you’d walk her home. She took you down by the river. You walked slowly and she told you about her life, her tragedies. You took her in your arms and let her cry into your shoulder. You kissed away her tears and smiled when she smiled. 

“You’re incredible, Jungeun. I’m so glad I met you,” she whispered. The clock struck midnight, yet you did not turn to stone. You grinned at her. 

When you came to her door, she invited you in. You shook your head. 

“I like you, Haseul-unnie. I’d like to be more than just a one-night stand,” you confessed to her. She took your hand and led you inside anyway. You kissed her until she fell asleep. You stayed until you felt your skin morph and harden. With regret, you kissed her forehead and left her.

This changed around the church after that fateful night. A new pastor arrived with pale skin. She often wonders around the church gardens and the rooftops, analysing each statue careful. The new pastor has taken Yeojin under wing, something she’s glad about. Little Yeojin needs guidance from someone other than her father. With the new pastor came her group of friends, and her lovers. 

You think back to the day before, to the conversation you heard. 

“She consulted me about seeing demons,” you heard the pastor speak.

“Do you think she’s?”

“I don’t think she’s the Nephilim we’re looking for. Quite the opposite, I think,”

One sentence rang in your head, “Good job, Agent.” 

You hoped Yeojin wouldn’t say too much to the new pastor. You aren’t sure that she is to be trusted. If you could sigh, you would. You just want her to be safe and happy, you feel protective over her, even if she isn’t your charge.

“Jungeun,” 

You are cut off from your musing as your heart starts to beat. The stone softens and turns to skin. Your hair falls from the air and settled on your back. You unfurl your leathery wings and allow your fangs to retract. You’d recognise that voice anywhere. You turn to meet the smug face of the woman you once called a friend. Her odd eye gleamed blue. Of course, her companion stood a step behind her, her deceivingly innocent eye shining purple. Her hair was purple to match.

“Jinsol. Yerim,” you greet them coldly. “How are you here? You shouldn’t be able to stand on consecrated ground.”

“Maybe this church isn’t as consecrated as you thought it was, Jungeunnie,” the demon before you sneers. Yerim chuckles deviously. 

“Or maybe you aren’t doing a very good job of protecting this church, unnie,” the purple haired demon pipes up. 

You roll your eyes and snarl.

“What are you doing here?”

The two demons laugh. 

“We’ve come with an offer, from our boss,” Yerim grins at you suspiciously. You raise your eyebrow. 

“Jeong? Or higher up?” 

“Much higher up,” Jinsol laughs sharply, “Look, babe, if you join us, leave God and renounce his bullshit, He will remove the curse. We’ll be together again.”

“Odd eye circle, together one more,” Yerim smiles. The eye which once burned red feels weird and out of place in your eye socket. You look away from the demons, casting away the painful memory of the odd eye being ripped from you and replaced with an eye created by God themselves. You fight back a whimper, you can’t be seen as weak. 

Part of you wants to join your old friends and be rid of this stone curse. But you have been blessed, you have been blessed with your duty. And you can’t leave her unprotected. 

“I can’t,” you answer eventually. 

“You can’t join us? Or you can’t leave your charge alone? Creep,” Jinsol snarls at you. You unfurl your wings threateningly. Jinsol’s tail bursts from her pants and flicks aggressively. 

“What do you know of my charge?” you spit.

“I know you’re not doing a very good of protecting her,” your old friend laughs harshly. Dread fills your heart. Your wings drop. 

“What do you mean? You know her? Stay away from Haseul!” you cry. The two demons laugh.

“Unnie, you’re so whipped for her. Remember what happened last time you fell for an angel?” Yerim chuckled. 

Before you can spit back a reply, a tiny person bursts through the door which serves as an entrance to the rooftop of the church, your domain. 

“Lippie?” she cries when she spots you squaring off against the two demons. Jinsol grins deviously. Yerim stares at the young woman in shock, something odd lighting up her eyes. 

“Is this the little Nephilim I’ve been told about?” Jinsol growls as she stalks the small girl. You rush to stand in front of Yeojin and snarl at the demon. You let your fangs drop down over your lip and release your wings, unfurling them to their full, impressive, wingspan. 

Jinsol has the decency to look afraid before she laughs. 

“If you’re not with us, then you’re against us,” she warns. You made up your mind the first time you laid eyes on your charge. You would not succumb to darkness any longer. Not while your heart beat for her. 

“Then I’m against you,” you say, your voice low. 

“Then this is goodbye, for good this time,” Jinsol growls. She holds onto Yerim’s arm and nods. 

“Bye Jungeun,”

And just like that, you’re stone again, perching on the edge of the church. Your heart tries to fight the stone, tries to beat, but there is no stopping it from stopping. The wind blows in your face, and your hair solidifies in air. Your wings curl up once more. You feel a pair of arms wrap around your neck and a wet cheek presses against your back. 

You wish you could comfort the sobbing child. 

But you can’t.

Because you are stone.


	6. Chapter 5

Three women sat around a table surrounded by an unbearable silence. The red-haired woman looked between the two other women with a frown. 

“So, you found this girl on the streets and decided to invite her into our home?” Vivi finally asked. Haseul winced.

“Basically, yes,” she agreed, “But she had nowhere else to go! I couldn’t leave her wondering around the streets at night with no shoes on!”

Jiwoo innocently looked around the room. Vivi leant forwards and whispered to her roommate.

“But what if she’s a druggie or a thief or a murderer?” she asked. Haseul raised her eyebrow.

“Look at her, how can that poor little cinnamon roll be a murderer?” Haseul whispered in response. The pair looked at woman, who promptly did the most adorable sneeze Haseul had ever heard and then went ‘Oh no!’. “See!” Haseul hissed. 

“What was she even doing on the streets!”

“Her parents threw her out for being gay,” Haseul said, loud enough for Jiwoo to hear. The girl snapped to attention and pursed her lips cutely. “Isn’t that right?”

“Got it in one,” Jiwoo laughed, the smile slipped off her face for a moment and she looked sadder than she had when she realized that she had fallen. Vivi immediately softened and enveloped the small woman in a hug. 

“It’s okay, I’ve been there. It gets better,” she said comfortingly. Haseul frowned. Vivi had never mentioned that aspect of her life in Hong Kong. Then again, she never really spoke about her life in Hong Kong. Ever. 

With the heavy sigh of someone who had endured a great deal, Vivi looked up from Jiwoo’s head at Haseul, still stroking the angel’s head. 

“Jiwoo stays with us till she gets back on her feet,” Vivi announced, “Maybe we can help her find a job or something?”

Haseul nodded eagerly, her lips pressed tightly together. Her roommate smiled softly and began to twirl Jiwoo’s auburn hair around her elegant fingers. 

“Now then, how about we get some food into you, hmm? And get you changed into some warm clothes,” said Vivi gently. Jiwoo grinned and nodded like an overly eager puppy. How could anyone resist a puppy as cute as that girl? “Haseul, you take Jiwoo here to get changed, I’m sure she can borrow your pajamas for tonight. I’ll get started on dinner.”

Jiwoo gave Vivi a lovesick, simpering smile as she was guided out of the room by her new friend. Quickly, once in Haseul’s room, the short haired woman began to rummage through her draws, looking for a clean pair of pajamas. Jiwoo interrupted her thoughts with her seemingly permanently cheerful voice. 

“Haseul-unnie?” she asked. The girl had taken to calling Haseul ‘unnie’ almost immediately, but the short woman couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed by it. “Is this your family?”

There was a pregnant pause.

“You’re an angel, right?” Haseul whispered, “Do, did you, um, do you know if my mother and Hajin made it to heaven?”

Another pregnant pause followed. 

“My role in heaven wasn’t to keep track of those who entered the gates. My role was to protect the angels who resided in the heavens. And I failed in my role, I couldn’t protect her,” Jiwoo answered, her voice surprisingly low and spiteful, haunted almost. Her wings quivered. “Haseul?”

The short haired woman glanced up at the angel and saw her tearful eyes and pink cheeks.

“Please don’t ask me about heaven again,”

“Okay,”

There was a tense silence that engulfed the room as both women stared at each other, their eyes conveying the sadness that could not spoken aloud. Blinking away tears, Haseul found a pair of pajamas and shoved them into Jiwoo’s hands. Awkwardly, she shuffled out of the room and closed the door. 

As soon as the door was shut, Haseul let out a silent sob, her cries caught in her chest, never making it past her throat. Whimpering as quietly as she could, Haseul focussed on her breathing and the gentle snapping of her hairband against her wrist until she calmed down. 

Once she was calm enough to focus on anything other than not chocking on her swallowed words, she heard a voice coming from her room. Surely Jiwoo wasn’t speaking to herself? But there was a second voice that certainly didn’t sound like the angel’s megaphone voice. It was a little deep and sounded like the vocal equivalent of tiny font. Curiosity got the better of her; Haseul pressed her ear to her own bedroom door.

“Please come home, Gowon is heartbroken,” the tiny voice pleaded.

“Olivia, I can’t,”

“C’mon, Chuu, I can only stall for you for so long before the Lord notices that you’re gone. Please, give up on her, it’s too late for her, it’s not too late for you,” the tiny voice pleaded more. Haseul heard Jiwoo make a bizarre chocking sound, halfway between a laugh and a sob. 

“Oh, Olivia. I can’t. I don’t have a choice,” Jiwoo’s was full of desolate resignation. Bravely, Haseul cracked the door open a little bit, just enough for her to see the scene in her own room.

Jiwoo, in Haseul’s ugly pajamas, knelt in front of a figure so bright it was almost painful to look at. Almost. The figure was glorious. It had a female figure and wore a long, silver dress. Her hair was jet black and hung on either side of her pale face. Her skin pulsed with gold and silver light that radiated off every inch of her. Her wings took up the entirety of her room. The pale grey wings were magnificent, Haseul couldn’t take her eyes off them. If she had, perhaps she would have recognised the face of girl who was floating in the middle of her room. Jiwoo’s wings were pathetic in comparison, broken, twisted and bare. 

“There’s always a choice, Chuu! Please, don’t do what she did, make the right choice,” 

Jiwoo, or Chuu, Haseul supposed, stood up defiantly, her ragged wings splayed out behind her. 

“Are you blind, Olivia? Can you not see my wings? They stopped working! I didn’t choose to leave heaven, I fell!” Jiwoo cried. 

“But you still have heavenly fire running through your veins, maybe your wings can be fixed?” the angel suggested.

“Maybe I don’t want them to be fixed, Olivia!” Jiwoo cried once more, her voice loud and painful, like the man’s voice in Haseul’s vision.

Haseul thought she heard Vivi ask something. Panicked, she burst into her bedroom and shoved her hand over Jiwoo’s mouth. 

“Hush before Vivi hears,” Haseul whispered in panic. The angel in her room cowered in disgust at Haseul’s sudden appearance. 

“You told the human of our existence?” the black-haired angel sneered. 

“The human has a name,” Haseul retorted. The angel recoiled with a frown, her triangular lips curled upwards. She clearly decided to ignore Haseul’s presence and held her hand towards Jiwoo. 

“Come with me, Chuu. Leave this… whatever she is. Make the right choice,” she implored her passionately. Jiwoo considered the outstretched hand and instead turned away, clinging to Haseul. 

“I am making the right choice. I’m staying here. I have to find her,” the fallen angel said softly. “I love her, you know that. I can say these words on Earth, I couldn’t even think them up there. And perhaps, you’ll eventually realise the same thing. When the time comes, you must choose between your princess and your God. I made my choice. A God who controls who we can and cannot love is no God of mine. You once believed that too.”

The angel in Haseul’s living room looked sad at first, her eyebrows drooped and her lips fell into a sweet pout. Then, fury lit up her eyes and she snatched her outstretched hand away. 

“You can’t save her. She’s too far gone,” Olivia sneered ferociously, petulantly. Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

“You know where she is?” she questioned. The angel smirked at Jiwoo before she turned around and flew through the open window into the cold night air. 

The broken angel called after the girl and rushed towards the window. Once she raised her leg and put her knee on the window sill, Haseul realised what was happening. Panicked, she rushed forwards and grabbed Jiwoo’s wing, tugging on it harshly. Jiwoo shouted in pain as she was pulled backwards, her body crashing into Haseul’s. 

Everything went black before Haseul’s body hit the ground. 

Haseul awoke feeling oddly peaceful and serene. More so than she had felt since, well, forever. She blinked as she adjusted to the blinding white light that surrounded her. She was wearing what seemed to be a yellow uniform. Stood in front of her was the girl from earlier. Gone was the furious heavenly fire that lit up her eyes, instead it was replaced by a gentle softness. Her wings were pure white, so bright they were difficult to look at. She wore the same yellow uniform that Haseul seemed to be wearing. She was staring wistfully at the back of a blonde girl’s head. 

“Come on, Olivia Hye, just go and talk to her, it’s not hard,” Haseul laughed. Her voice came out loud and high pitched, filled with untapped power. 

“Maybe for you,” the girl spoke in a quiet, timid voice, nothing like the furious shriek Haseul had just heard. “It’s not right,” the girl continued to whine, “Teacher says it’s wrong to have feelings for other angels.”

“Pfft, when have we ever listened to Teacher? There’s nothing wrong with talking to a pretty angel, is there?” Haseul giggled. A tall, slender angel with glistening, golden wings walked past Haseul, or the body she was in rather, and Haseul felt her heart begin to race, her whole body felt aflame. 

Olivia looked at her shyly and smiled a little, “I guess.”

A sharp voice interrupted the pleasant conversation, “Olivia Hye, Chuu. What are you doing wandering the grounds when you should be in class?”

Haseul felt her body turn and her eyes landed on a tall, blonde woman with piercing eyes that made Haseul feel uneasy. Her wings were made of flames rather than feathers. The sight of them struck her dumb. 

“No excuses?” the new woman growled, approaching the two girls, “Olivia Hye, you are excused. This was your first offense. If it happens again, you will be punished. Chuu, come with me.”

Haseul was led down the surprisingly dark hallways of a large, mansion like building. A sharp contrast to the marble pillars and blinding light she had just left. She felt herself be shoved into a darkened room and forced into a kneeling position.

“Chuu, do not lie. Do not add to the list of sins you have committed,” the woman commanded, holding Haseul by her long hair. “Have you or have you not had impure thoughts about a female angel?”

“How did you know?” Haseul felt the words leave her lips and a pitiful whimper filled the room. 

“So, you confess?” Teacher spat. “Sinner!”

A strike to Haseul’s back made her arch in pain. 

“Chuu, you are an angel, not a human whore, easily tempted by evil and sin. Heavenly fire runs through your veins, your wings are a symbol of your power. You are above humans, above their impure sins and unnatural preferences. If you are to become a true angel, you must overcome these impure thoughts. Do you know what happens to angels who think impure thoughts? They are sinners who must be cast away. Do you know what happens to angels who fall in love, even if it is pure of heart and thought, their wings whither until they can no longer support them,” Teacher finished the speech by tugging on the wings on Haseul’s back. She cried out. The Teacher fell silent and handed Haseul the handle of something. A flogger. “My dear, Chuu. You know what you must do to rid yourself of this sin.”

Haseul felt a tear drop down her cheek. She willed the body she was in not do what she thought she was about to do, but had no control over the hand that tightened its grip around the leather handle in determination. Inwardly, Haseul screamed for something, anything, else to happen. Quicker than a flash of lightning cracking across a stormy sky, the leather whip struck her back. There was a cry of pain. The whip struck once more. Haseul closed her eyes. She struck her back once more with so much force that she fell forwards, forcing Haseul out of the body. 

Haseul awoke on the floor of her bedroom with a gasp. The same strange metallic taste she tasted once before invaded her mouth, the flavour stronger, more invasive this time. Haseul spat violently, but no spit came out. Her mouth was dryer than a sand desert. Her head pounded, her back still stung from when the flogger had struck. Groggily, the short-haired woman slowly sat up and gazed around the room. Her window was closed. Jiwoo was perched beside her, looking down at her frightfully. 

“Are you okay? Did I land on you too hard?” the fallen angel asked, her mangled wings shook with the rest of her body. Haseul brought her hand to her head and tried to bring her mind fully out of her vision. She needed to update Heejin about what she had seen. Update her with her latest vision. 

“Ugh, I think I just hit my head too hard on the floor, or something,” Haseul said, her mind still hazy. Jiwoo nodded. She made a cute little ‘o’ with her mouth and turned to grab the glass of water that was beside Haseul’s bed. As she turned, the short-haired woman inspected the angel’s back. Sure enough, above her wings were many thin, white lines that covered her back. If she looked closely, they seemed to pulse silver. 

A glass of water for “nourishment” was thrust into Haseul’s hands and she drank it greedily. 

The angel pulled Haseul to her feet with a surprising amount of strength and led her back to the kitchen, a grin plastered on her face. How the fuck was she smiling after getting yelled at by a fucking angel? From heaven!

Haseul let out an uneaven breath. 

What the fuck was happening to her?

“Y-you, you stay here with Vivi tonight, okay?” Haseul stammered, dropping Jiwoo’s hand. “I need to get out of here, I can’t stay here.”

Before Jiwoo could protest, Haseul stormed away, she picked up her keys and coat and stormed out of the door. She pretended that she couldn’t feel the portrait of Hyunjin stare at her as the door slowly closed shut.


	7. Chapter 6

Disoriented, Haseul strode down the street. People walking past her shot the wide-eyed woman strange, concerned and scandalised looks as she staggered down the pavements, brushing past anyone who didn’t step out of the way in time. The short woman caught glimpses of silver wings in the reflection of shop mirrors. She spotted black horns curling up out of the crowd. One man with black eyes and silver skin smirked at Haseul as he slid past her, hissing quietly. Shadows crawled all over the buildings, laughing maliciously. Eyes peered around every corner. Growling and menacing chuckling filled Haseul’s ears. She wanted it to stop, she just wanted it to fucking stop. 

Haseul bumped into a wall. With a yelp, she jumped back from it, and looked up. Her gaze fell onto a gargoyle which seemed to stare down directly at her. 

The noises stopped. 

Her mind fell silent. 

Haseul’s eyes fell on the large, wooden door of the church. Impulsively, for the second time that day, the short woman crossed the threshold and entered the church.

Immediately, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. School girls and boys sang angelic notes that filled Haseul’s ears. The only other people in the church, as far as Haseul could tell, was the choir mistress. No horns, no wings, no creepy eyes, no fucking creepy noises. 

Silently, Haseul slipped into a pew near the back of the church and pressed her head into her hands. She couldn’t stop the tears that burst from her eyes. There was no way of forcing those tears back in, they simply had to be cried out. 

Once no more tears would come from her eyes, and the choir had changed tune at least twice, Haseul leant back on the bench and tipped her head back. 

“Well, I’ve never seen someone cry for 15 fucking minutes straight,” a girl commented. Haseul tilted her head and saw the girl from before, the one who looked exactly like…

“My sister, Hajin,” Haseul said, her voice sounded hoarse, “You can’t be her. She’s dead. You’re dead. You’re fucking dead,” Haseul babbled. The younger girl frowned and grimaced. 

“So, you’re not just a sad, weird lady,” the girl commented, “You’re a sad, weird, crazy lady.”

Haseul rolled her eyes and wiped away her tears. She looked away from the girl’s face, it wasn’t what she needed to see right now. The resemblance was too strong, she looked exactly like her. Curiously, the girl watched Haseul. She eventually began to speak to her. 

“Why do you keep on calling me Hajin?” she asked, surprisingly gently. Haseul slowly raised her eye line and cast an evil stare on the child. “My name is Yeojin, by the way. In case you were wondering.”

The older woman remained silent for a few moments, her brain still struggling to process everything. 

“Look, kid, I’m kind of going through some shit right now, I don’t really need you here right now. You exactly like my dead sister and it’s fucking creeping me out,” Haseul groaned. To her surprise, the young woman smiled softly, understandingly. 

“It’s okay, a lot of people come here seeking refuge from their past,” Yeojin said wisely, “I don’t think you’re here to seek refuge with God, are you?”

“What tipped you off?” the short-haired woman drawled sarcastically. The kid grinned cheekily and shrugged. She her hand out to the woman.

“Look, I get that you don’t want to look at me, which is kinda weird, lady, not gonna lie. But, I think I can show you something special which may take your mind off things,” Yeojin declared softly. Haseul frowned questioningly. The girl’s smile was cheeky, her eyes lit up with innocent hope. Well, this day couldn’t possibly get any weirder, Haseul thought to herself, surely there was no harm in following the girl that looked like her dead sister. 

The girl grabbed her hand with a surprisingly strong grip for someone so tiny and dragged her from her seat. Haseul followed the young woman down the side of the church, up the spiral staircase and through the bell-tower, onto a plaza-like area on the roof. Haseul felt like Alice, following the Rabbit down the rabbit-hole. Instead she followed her rabbit up the bell tower to her own religious wonderland of bells and gargoyles. 

“Is this safe?” Haseul asked, gripping onto a random gargoyle’s head. 

“Of course, it is, lady. I wouldn’t be allowed up here if it wasn’t. Dumbass,” the young girl muttered, shaking her head. Haseul rolled her eyes, but relaxed her grip on the gargoyle. Haseul watched as her sister’s lookalike crouched and perched on the edge of the roof. She brought her hand under her chin, mirroring the pose of a nearby gargoyle. 

“Look down at the people,” Yeojin commanded, “Look down. They’re all tiny. Teeny tiny people. Doesn’t it make you feel, I don’t know, powerful? Safe? I don’t know how to describe it.”

Haseul looked down on the crowds of people wandering the yellow streets. The moon lit up the sky, yet the streets were lit with sodium street lamps. Shadows crawled along the ground. She could still see the winged beings, horned beings, creepy beings. But from such a height, she didn’t feel threatened by them. They couldn’t hurt her in this religious wonderland, surrounded by gargoyles and stone. She wasn’t sure if powerful or safe were the right words to describe how she felt as she looked down on the people swarming around and away from the Church. Not a single person looked up towards her, it was odd. Refreshing even.

“I think I feel relieved. Distant. Like, here it is just you and me, no one else. No one can hurt us or try to me I’m crazy. I don’t feel safe, I just feel relieved. Peaceful,” Haseul announced. Yeojin glanced up at her and smiled appreciatively. 

“Not everyone feels that way up here. Some only see the distance to the ground. Some only hear the bells,” Yeojin agreed, nodding her head with far too much wisdom for a girl of her age. Her lips quirked up, forming the cheeky smirk that seemed to be her resting face, “Hey, we’re not alone, you know.”

“Do... do you live here?” Haseul asked tentatively. A flash of something mysterious crossed the young woman’s eyes. Her fingers danced across her knee. 

“I guess. I mean I don’t live up here, I have a bed and everything. I was adopted by one of the pastors here when I was ten. I ring the bells,” Yeojin revealed quietly. She shrugged and kicked a loose stone across the roof. 

“You were adopted?” Haseul asked, “Growing up in the care system must have been rough,”

Yeojin shrugged once more. 

“I wouldn’t know. I mean, I don’t remember. Pastor Park says I grew up in foster care, but I was in an accident. It’s because of the accident I don’t remember the first ten years of my life. Pastor Park says he adopted me while I was still in a coma. He had faith that I’d wake up when no one else did. It’s because of him, I’m still alive. So yeah, living in a church by myself isn’t exactly fun all the time, but at least it’s home,” Yeojin mumbled. She sighed loudly. Haseul watched the young woman with curiosity. 

“And you don’t remember anything that happened before the, uh, accident,” she asked tentatively. The girl only shrugged. 

“Sometimes I dream of a family, of a father and a mother and a sister. But I also dream about frogs trying to kiss me so I don’t think dreams are very accurate,” Yeojin said. She pursed her lips in thought. 

The poor girl’s problems put Haseul’s in perspective, if only for a moment.

“Don’t you get lonely?” 

“Well, yeah. But, the pastors are all nice, especially Pastor Kim. And I have the grotesques to keep me company,” Yeojin replied optimistically. “I’ll show you my favourite.”

The girl bounced to her feet and bounded over to a stone statue, she put her hands on the base of the statue and grunted with effort. The stone statue swung around.

It was funny, Yeojin and Haseul shared a favourite gargoyle. 

Here she was in all her glory. The colour of her stone was pale grey that had yellowed with age. Her stone hair was startlingly realistic. While she was up close, Haseul could see that the clothes the gargoyle seemed to wear was definitely some sort of long dress. Her wings remained close to her body, Haseul imagined they must have been impressive unfurled. Large fangs stuck out over her bottom lip. If it weren’t stone, Haseul was sure those plump lips would be soft. There was something familiar in the curve of the eyes, the slope of the nose. 

“This is Kim Lip,” Yeojin announced proudly, “She protects me.”

Haseul laughed. 

“She protects you? She’s stone!” she exclaimed with a shout of laughter. Yeojin frowned and stamped her foot petulantly. 

“Maybe I don’t mean it literally! I might mean it figuratively, lady,” Yeojin shouted. Haseul smiled. The smile turned bitter.

“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard. Not after the day I’ve had today,” the short haired woman muttered as she lowered herself to floor. Yeojin looked down on her, the cheeky smirk returned to her face. 

“I shared my tragic backstory, doesn’t that mean that I unlock something. A tragic backstory? Nah, I got that already, dead sister. What about a tragic now-story?” 

Haseul snorted. The dead sister was only a small part of the tragic backstory. But that wasn’t something she was going to unwrap in front of a child, she had a therapist for that. No, now was the time to unlock the tragic now-story. 

Haseul recounted the bizarre day. She recounted the weird things, the weird people she had started to see. She told Yeojin about the two women with one glowing eye each. She told her about the woman who fell in front of her. She told her about the screaming angel in her bedroom. She told her about her vision, her experience, of heaven. Tears streamed down her face as she recounted Jiwoo’s sin and punishment. 

Yeojin was silent when Haseul finished. 

“Well, I think you just won the shittest day ever competition,” she remarked. 

“You believe me?” Haseul sniffled. Yeojin shrugged. 

“I mean, I’ve seen some weird shit, so why not, I guess,” she said, her eyes falling on the oddly familiar gargoyle. “You can stay here for a bit, if you want. Until you decide to go back.”

“Thanks, I don’t think I could face Vivi or Jiwoo right now,” Haseul muttered. She smiled at the small girl in front of her. Yeojin smiled back softly.

The two women remained in silence, absorbs in their own thoughts. How were they to know that two parties listened in to the conversation with sharp, curious ears? One clung to side of the church, lurking below the claws of the gargoyles and grotesques. Another hid in the sanctuary of the bells, her phone recording every word said by the two girls. 

Haseul talked with the strange girl who resided in the church for a while longer. Eventually, Haseul looked up and observed the height of the moon in the sky. She must have been out of the house for a couple of hours now. She began to fret about her roommate, Vivi must have been worried sick about her. And she left her with a fucking fallen angel who was adjusting to life on Earth. 

Regret and worry gnawed at Haseul’s insides. She stood up abruptly and asked her new (maybe) friend to guide her to the Church exit. Her rabbit showed her the way down the spiral staircase, away from the stone haven and into land of demons and angels and the humans they bothered. Yeojin squeezed her shoulder with a comforting smile before she disappeared into the depths of the Church. 

As she reached the doorways of the church, ready to step back into the real world, Haseul was apprehended by the pastor she had met earlier in the day.

“Haseul-ssi, hello!” the woman greeted enthusiastically. Gone were the robes from earlier, instead she was wearing a jumper and jeans. Her blonde locks tumbled over her pretty coat. A beautiful woman with a playful grin hung off her arm. The short haired woman greeted the young pastor formally, but her formalities were laughed off, the young pastor insisting that Haseul simply call her by her name, Dahyun. 

“I have some good news already,” Dahyun said, “I’ve found some interesting information. But I need to do some more digging before I can tell you anything.” She fished in her pocket and produced her phone, she fiddled with it then handed it to Haseul. “Is it okay if you give me your number? Sana here has been called on an emergency work trip abroad and I’m accompanying her. I’ll call you once I’m back so we can talk?”

“Oh, sure,” Haseul hastily put her phone details into the device.

The young pastor waved her off with a wide grin. The woman accompanying her winked flirtatiously at Haseul when she glanced at the couple over her shoulder. She hoped she was imagining the strange appendage in the woman’s shadow. 

The night was cold, the streets were eerily quiet. Haseul wished she had grabbed a warmer jacket in her rush to leave the house. The short woman glanced at her phone and noticed the number of missed calls. Most were from Vivi, but there were a few from Heejin and even one from Hyunjin. Haseul’s thumb hovered over the call button, but she instead sent a quick message to her roommate. ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Just felt overwhelmed. Be home soon.’

Haseul saw Vivi’s caller ID flash on the screen. She bit her lip and her phone back her pocket; she ignored the vibrations. 

It was lucky, in a way, that she ignored the call. If she hadn’t, she probably wouldn’t have heard footsteps and the creepy clicking sounds that followed. Concerned, Haseul quickened her pace. 

Suddenly, a man stepped in front of her. His face was obscured by the shadow that came down from his fedora. He was tall and broad, clad in an expensive looking suit. A lighter was in his meaty hand.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he growled, “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

The lighter flicked open. The man held the flame up close to his face, the light illuminated his twisted features. 

It had no eyes.

It had ashen skin and thick dark eyebrows. It’s nose twitched and it’s tongue flicked out from between his teeth. But where his eyes should have been, there was only a skin covered crater. 

The man shaped creature screeched and lurched forwards as Haseul screamed and fell backwards. She turned to run, but there was something in her way. Another man, another creature. Its skin was covered in black, matted fur, it’s eyes were purely white and it’s tongue lolled out of its mouth. It also wore a suit, but it’s outfit was ragged and torn, stained with red and brown. It growled. 

Strong hands gripped Haseul, forcing her arms to be kept in place at either side of her body. She struggled against the grip as much as could. The eyeless creature raised her off the ground. The furry man approached Haseul on all fours. As it got close enough, Haseul kicked out and struck the creature in its face. It whimpered as it fell backwards. When it looked back up at Haseul, it’s jaw was misshapen and half its teeth were missing. 

“Looks like we’ve got a feisty one,” the eyeless man laughed, “Feisty ones must be broken in.”

The furry man stood up, yipping at the eyeless man, who laughed in response. 

“Don’t break her too much, I want a go,” the eyeless man hissed, his breath felt icy against Haseul’s neck. She strained to get away from him. “And PM wants her alive, remember.”

The furry creature snarled. It’s clawed hands reached down to the button of its pants and fumbled around until it was undone. The zip was undone next. Haseul paled and her eyes widened. She thrashed and screamed for help as the creature approached her, avoiding the flailing legs, his furry hand moving in his pants. 

Just as it got close enough to touch Haseul, the furry monster whimpered and collapsed to the ground. There was a figure behind the crumpled creature. The hood of her hoodie was covering her face, there was a stone brick in her hand. Haseul felt the hand at her sides release her, and she crashed to the ground with thud, her head hit wall.

When she came back to her senses, the furry creature and the eyeless man were attacking this new person. She bashed the eyeless man with the brick in her hand and shoved him backwards. The furry bastard leaped at her, she moved out of it’s way, even laughing when it landed claws first on the eyeless man. The eyeless man howled. The woman dodged the furry creature’s next blow and elbowed the creature in the face. She turned and brought the brick down on the creature’s head. There was a visible, brick shaped dent in the furry man’s head, which oozed with black pus. The creature howled and scampered away. The woman turned to the eyeless man, who scampered to his feet and ran in the opposite direction.

The new woman dropped the brick. There was a strange expression on her face when she turned and looked at the woman on the floor at her feet. It was like feigned surprise, done badly. Haseul gasped when she looked at the woman’s face.

“Jungeun?”

“Hi, Haseul.”


	8. Interlude

A small girl sat in front of an easel, brush in hand. She dabbed the brush into a blob of pinkish paint which balanced on a wooden palette. 

Painting had always delighted the girl. Her father was pleased his daughter was interested in such past times as music, ballet and art, not like his colleagues and employees’ daughters who preferred playing sports and climbing trees. Her father ensured she was equipped the best easel, the best brushes and the best paint money could buy. The best teacher too. 

The girl was studying portraits and was practicing painting lifelike studies. Her model was her nanny, a formidable woman with striking good looks to match her luscious black locks. That day, she wore her raven hair in bun atop her head, an obsidian clip holding it in place. 

The girl’s teacher monitored the girl’s progress. He noted how the girl captured the malice and contempt that lingered in her nanny’s eyes, the cruel smirk that marred her otherwise pretty lips and the painted over frown lines that crossed her otherwise perfect forehead. 

“How long must I sit like this?” the nanny eventually asked, her tone not too unlike that of a petulant child. 

“Until she is done, of course,” her teacher replied. 

“And how long will that be?” her nanny addressed the girl. The girl looked up from her painting and scowled. She thought about being cheeky, but she knew it wasn’t worth the slap on the wrist. 

“I’m afraid she hasn’t started your hair yet, Madam,” her teacher stated, his skilful eyes glancing over the painting, his gentle fingers pointing to where the girl should consider looking at the shading and colour profile of the startlingly realistic portrait. The girl was talented, truly gifted in her art, but she was still imperfect. 

The nanny sighed angrily. 

“Well hurry up child, and make sure my hair is exquisite. Your father will be displeased if it isn’t, and so shall I,” the nanny added on a warning that made the girl shiver. She bowed her. 

“Yes, Ms Wu,” she breathed. 

The nanny scowled. 

“Don’t speak unless spoken to child,” she spat. The girl bowed her head and disguised the mischievous smile that spread on her face. 

It wasn’t long before the girl had finished her portrait. The teacher raised his eyebrow but said nothing. He looked fearful when the nanny marched towards the portrait. Her bead-like eyes glanced over the glistening pale head and cried in fury. 

“Why have you painted me bald, you insolent child?” the nanny shrieked, fiercely grabbing the child by her bird-like arms. The girl blinked. 

“Because you are bald, Miss,” she answered softly. The woman looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror. Her obsidian hairpin clattered against the stone floor, the sound echoing throughout the room. Sure enough, there was not a single hair on her head. She ran her hand over the smooth, shining skin and screamed like a banshee. But it was not a human that had died, not that time. Her hair was nowhere in the room, she could find it no matter how hard she tried. Her hair had simply vanished. 

The nanny turned her attention back to the girl, her lips curled up in a vicious snarl. 

“Wait till your father hears what happened, you little shit. You’re in for it, you fucking brat,” the nanny shrieked. The teacher watched, both amused and fearful. The girl seemed unfazed by her nanny’s outburst. She turned her cheek when the woman raised her hand. She was not struck, as expected, as usual, but the woman gripped onto her already bruised arm and dragged her from her studio. 

The nanny thrust the girl into her father’s office. She was very aware of the business men in the office who chuckled at her misfortune. 

“Have you had a haircut, Ms Wu?” the man asked, his voice higher in pitch than his imposing figure would suggest. 

“Your daughter is a witch,” the woman sneered, “She did this to me.”

When asked if this was true, the girl looked at the floor and wringed her wrists, “I’m sorry father, I did not know that painting her bald would make her bald in real life.”

The man’s expression morphed into something unreadable. Someone well-versed in reading strange expressions may have been able to pick out amusement, confusion and pleasure from the twitch of his eyebrow and the curve of his lips. The man asked his colleague or employees to leave him. He requested the nanny leave once he promised her a new job and a wig. 

The man sat back down and gestured for his daughter to sit on his knee. His ran his fingers through her jet black hair with a content smirk. 

“There may be a use for you yet, my child,” he whispered. Subtly, the man reached over to a speaker and pressed the button. He leant over and spoke into it, his voice tougher than before. “Start the hiring process. We are in need of a new nanny,” he ordered. The man looked once more at the innocent girl who laughed as she bounced on his knee. He smiled. “Ensure Ms Wu is disposed of.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> This is as far as I’ve got so far.   
> Since I start uni again soon, updates will probably be very slow, third year is kicking my arse.  
> Feel free to leave any comments, I’m happy to receive any criticisms (as long as they are constructive).  
> Hope y’all are enjoying the story so far.


	9. Chapter 7

Even in the synthetic yellow light cast over her, the woman in front of Haseul looked as strikingly beautiful as she did when they met weeks ago. The woman scowled as she inspected a chicken nugget.

“You act like you’ve never seen a chicken nugget before,” Haseul remarked. Jungeun’s frown deepened. 

“I have seen a chicken nugget before,” Jungeun replied haughtily. Haseul smirked. 

“Then why are you looking at it like it just kicked a puppy?”

Staring Haseul in the eye, Jungeun raised her eyebrows challengingly and shoved the whole nugget into her mouth. As she chewed on the chicken thoughtfully, delight slowly lit up her eyes and her lips curved upwards. She rapidly inhaled the rest of the chicken nuggets, and the fries soon followed. Haseul could only watch in awe. The women in front of her burped quietly as she dabbed her mouth daintily with a napkin.

“Wow, I’ve never seen someone eat a McDonalds like that before,” Haseul laughed. It was refreshing, she thought, being able to genuinely laugh. It was refreshing feeling comfortable enough to laugh genuinely. What an uncomfortable thought. 

Jungeun smiled sheepishly and ran her fingers through her brunette mane. 

“It’s been awhile since I ate, I was hungry,” she commented shyly. Haseul could only smile at her and continue to admire her pretty face. Her beauty was a welcome distraction. But the questions and thoughts soon returned with more vigour than ever. Haseul had thought that maybe this McDonalds was the eye of the hurricane, but she forgot that hurricanes can move. She was back in the mists of the storm, being battered by winds of thought. 

“So, uh, thanks for saving me from those… uh, yeah,” Haseul began. Jungeun’s frown returned.

“You’ve already thanked me several times already. You bought me food,” the woman replied. Haseul sighed. 

“Yeah, and that was the least I could do. From what they were saying, it sounds like they were going to do something worse than just kill me?”

“Worse?” Jungeun cocked her head to the side.

“There’s things in this world much worse than dying,” Haseul laughed bitterly, “Like being left behind,” she added on under her breath. 

The short haired woman felt something oddly cool cover hands. She looked down to see her clasped hands covered with Jungeun’s own. 

“I’m sorry that you came to understand that at such a young age,” she said sincerely, her voice low. 

“Hey, you’re younger than me,” Haseul exclaimed, chuckling uncomfortably. Jungeun scowled and pulled her hands away. 

She smirked suddenly, “I feel like you have questions that you’re building up the courage to ask, right?”

Haseul nodded. 

“Well, before you ask. No, I don’t know who those guys were. I was just taking a walk when I heard you screaming and I came running. That’s how I found you.”

Haseul nodded once more.

“How were you so good at fighting?” Haseul asked quietly, “I couldn’t fend them off, but they literally ran away from you.”

Jungeun was silent for a moment.

“It’s my job to be good at fighting. My job is to protect people. I am a bodyguard,” she finally answered. 

“Wow, you must be really good at your job!”

The woman in front of Haseul scowled. 

“Not good enough apparently,” she muttered. Haseul hummed and played with her fries. 

“Do you want the rest of my food? I’m not hungry,” Haseul offered. Jungeun considered the food before she reached out and hungrily swallowed the offered burger. 

“That’s not as good as the chicken,” Jungeun announced, her mouth still full of food. Haseul giggled girlishly at the site. 

“I can buy you more nuggets if you really want?” Haseul offered. Jungeun suddenly became embarrassed and hid her blushing face. Haseul watched with a pounding heart. The woman in front of her shook her head, tendrils of hair fell onto her forehead. 

“I think we should probably get you home. I bet your housemate is worried sick,” Jungeun commented. Haseul frowned. She was sure she didn’t mention a housemate. Perhaps Jungeun had just remembered from when they first met, or maybe it was just uncommon for people her age to live alone. 

Nervously, Haseul glanced towards the outside. The darkness looked cold and uninviting, not at all like the stuffy and welcoming McDonalds. Part of her wanted to avoid the inevitable bollocking she would get from Vivi. Vivi hated it when she left the apartment at night without saying where she was going. It wasn’t like Vivi didn’t do that all the time. 

Anxiously, Haseul asked, “Will you walk me? I don’t want to across any of those monsters again. Just thinking about all that hair on that guy freaks me out.”

Jungeun’s expression was bizarre, but the bewildered and concerned look was quickly replaced by one of bemused nonchalance. 

“He wasn’t that hairy! Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a guy with a beard before,” she teased. Haseul realised that it was possible that Jungeun hadn’t seen the thick fur covering one monster’s body, or hadn’t noticed the missing eyes of the other. She couldn’t have imagined it. She couldn’t have. Maybe Jungeun was just normal, and Haseul wasn’t. 

The brunette stood and held her hand out to Haseul. 

“Come on then, I’ll protect you from all of the hairy guys,” 

Haseul took her cold hand with a smile.

The walk home felt quick with Jungeun by her side. The woman held her hand and calmed her nerves with an amusing tale about a demon and her pet cockroach. 

They reached Haseul’s door quicker than she would’ve liked.

“You can come in, if you want,” Haseul said with a slight stutter. Jungeun smirked. 

“I said I didn’t want to be a one night stand, didn’t I?” she chuckled charmingly. The shorter woman looked down with a shy smile.

“Will I see you again?” 

Jungeun’s scowl returned, “Not for some time. I have business to attend to. Someday though.”

“I hope someday is soon,”

“Don’t go forgetting me, Haseul,” Jungeun said earnestly.

“I could never,” Haseul breathed as she leant forwards and kissed Jungeun’s stone cold cheek. As she leant back, she was sure she felt something heavy drop into her pocket.

Haseul turned to the face the door just as it swung open. 

“Unnie!” Heejin cried as launched herself at smaller woman. Vivi was close behind, enveloping her in a protective embrace.

“Haseul, where the fuck have you been? You could have gotten yourself killed!” the Cantonese woman scolded her. “I was so worried about you.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Haseul said softly, wrestling herself out of Heejin and Vivi’s tight embrace. Remembering Jungeun’s presence, Haseul started to introduce the woman and looked over her shoulder. There wasn’t another person in sight.

Jungeun was gone.

Haseul felt like a small child. She sat on the sofa, hugging her legs, while Vivi paced in front of her, ranting in a mix of Korean and Chinese. From where she was sat, Haseul could see Heejin, Hyunjin and Jiwoo sat in an awkward silence at the table in the kitchen. They watched with the same expression one tends to wear when one is at a friend’s house watching them be scolded by their parents, a mix of concern, humiliation and amusement, although it was only really Hyunjin who looked amused. 

Eventually, Haseul decided to stop feeling like a child. She stood up and held tightly onto Vivi’s hands. 

“Vivi,” she said sternly, “I am fine. I know I worried you, and I’m sorry. I’ve had an overwhelming couple of days and I needed to get out. I’m better now. I won’t do that again.”

Vivi sighed loudly and rubbed her forehead. 

“You’re going to be the death of me, Jo Haseul,” she shook her head. The younger woman grinned.

“And yet you still love me,” Haseul chuckled and quickly hugged the older woman so she didn’t have to see how Vivi looked at her. She didn’t know what would hurt her more, disapproval, disappointment or the distinctive look of unwavering love. 

Her roommate pulled out of the hug with a loud sigh. She smiled fondly and reached up to ruffle Haseul’s hair, an action she used to do frequently when they were dating. Haseul’s heart ached for a moment, but the weight in her pocket distracted her, preventing her from once again becoming overwhelmed by heartache and longing. 

Haseul’s stomach rumbled loudly. Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Jungeun eat her McDonalds. Vivi’s frown was motherly. 

“Good job I saved some food for you,” she commented, “It was difficult considering Jiwoo asked for thirds.”

“It’s not my fault human food is so delicious,” Jiwoo exclaimed, her mouth full of snacks. 

“Who even are you?” Hyunjin questioned, looking the poor angel up and down. Heejin kept glancing at the girl uncomfortably. 

Haseul, however, wasn’t paying attention to their bickering. Her hand reached into her pocket and curled around the smooth, cold stone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at the strange, curved object. Despite the coldness of the stone, her body filled with warmth and her mind was filled with memories of Jungeun. 

“Hey, Haseul unnie, we’re going to head off now,” Heejin brought Haseul out of her daydream. She looked up at Heejin’s concerned expression and Hyunjin’s feigned nonchalance, the latter held the creepy portrait of herself in her arms. Heejin opened her arms out and Haseul crashed into them, hugging the younger girl fiercely. “I know you’re not telling me everything, please call me tomorrow to fill me in,” she whispered into Haseul’s ear, “I want to know where you got this from.”

As her fingers grazed over the stone-like object, Heejin’s body froze. Haseul attempted to pull herself out of the tight embrace, but Heejin’s hold on her body was almost vice-like. The short haired woman tried to wiggle out but all she managed to do was manoeuvre herself so that Heejin’s blank face and unblinking, vacant eyes were visible. 

“Whoa, Heejin, if you’re trying to make me jealous, it’s not going to work,” Hyunjin laughed after a while. Heejin began to blink rapidly, her eyebrows furrowing. She slowly removed her arms from the body she was hugging and stepped back. Her black eyes were haunted. Her usual charming smile returned to her face and she bounded over to her girlfriend, taking her hand and assuring her that she would never intentionally make her jealous. The pair said their goodbyes to Vivi and Jiwoo. The angel was seemingly a little entranced by Heejin, her curious eyes followed the rabbit-like girl wherever she went.

As the door slammed shut, Jiwoo turned to grin at Haseul.

“You have great friends, Haseul unnie! Vivi unnie is amazing and I really like that little demon,” she commented brightly. Looking at her, Haseul almost couldn’t believe that this was the same confused angel who she found on the street in rags, or the angel who cried over her lost love. Instead, she looked bright and healthy. Her cheeks were flushed, yet her skin still rippled with odd flashes of silver and gold. She looked cosy in Haseul’s pajamas, her ragged wings were tucked into the fabric, unseen to even Haseul. As she was sat with a cup of steaming cocoa in her hands, the angel looked startlingly human. 

“Yeah, Hyunjin can be a bit weird sometimes, but she’s got a heart of gold,” Haseul nodded, tucking into the food which Vivi set in front of her.

Jiwoo laughed, “Oh, you don’t know?” she asked quietly. 

“Don’t know what?”

Jiwoo yawned loudly and stretched her arms. 

“Looks like it’s time for sleep. Thank you, Vivi unnie for setting up the couch for me,”

And with that, the angel gulped down the rest of her drink and skipped away. Haseul frowned as she watched her disappear. 

That left Haseul alone with Vivi. The Cantonese woman sat on the chair next to Haseul’s with a concerned expression. 

“Haseul, I want you to be honest with me,” she said firmly, her voice quiet, “Have you been taking your meds?”

The short haired woman frowned.

“You know I have. I’m not dumb,”

“I just wanted to be sure, you’ve been distant lately and Christmas is coming up and I know it’s hard for you at Christmas,” Vivi continued gently.

“I’m fine, Vivi, I just have some weird stuff going on right now,” Haseul said, her voice trembling a little. 

“You can always talk to me, you know,” Vivi implored, “You haven’t disappeared like that for a long time,”

“At least I didn’t come back shit-faced this time,” Haseul joked. The joke only made Vivi’s frown deepen. 

“That’s not funny, Haseul,” she sighed, “Look, is it university? Is it the time of year? Is it me?”

“It’s not you, it could never be you. I love you too much,” Haseul blurted passionately. Vivi smiled for a brief moment, then a frown set on her face.

“Maybe that is a problem. I love you too, Haseul, but I worry that maybe we love each romantically more than we should. I know that my relationships with other women make you jealous and I don’t want you getting hurt,” Vivi revealed. She looked down at her hands, a blush formed on her cheeks. 

Haseul sighed, “You’re right. I’m still in love with you, and I probably always will be. But, we can’t be together. I… a relationship isn’t what I need right now. I have been distant with you lately, and it’s because it’s getting harder and harder to get over you. But I know, deep inside, that we aren’t meant to be. And that’s okay.”

Vivi licked her lips in thought, “Maybe we need some time away from each other. I-I could go and stay at Sooyoung’s for a few days.”

“Is that what you really want?” Haseul asked, her voice small. Vivi shook her head. Her hand gravitated towards Haseul’s, their fingers met and become entwined. 

“No, I want you Haseul. But, we broke up for a reason. We have too much baggage, too many secrets,”

“We’re not a good idea,” Haseul agreed. Their heads gravitated towards each other’s, the pull was too difficult to resist. 

“We really shouldn’t do this,” Vivi breathed as Haseul’s face loomed closer. 

“No, we shouldn’t,” she agreed, her voice low. 

Before either of them could take a moment to think, their lips brushed together. The kiss started off light and gentle, but quickly became more passionate. Haseul clambered from her chair and into Vivi’s lap, holding onto her protectively. She pulled away, her chest heaving. Vivi’s eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Vivi, unnie, we need to stop sleeping together,” Haseul whined. Vivi nodded.

“I know. It’s only making things worse,” she agreed. The slightly older woman sighed and brushed the hair from Haseul’s face, her fingers tracing her angular jawline. “One last time?”

Haseul smiled softly, “One last time.”

She stood and held her hand out to her roommate, who took her hand and lead her towards her bedroom. Vivi’s door closed behind them with a quiet thud. The curtains closed, blocking out the blue and purple eyes that stared into the room. The ex-lovers collapsed together passionately. Their kisses were tender and mournful, their touches gentle and lingering, their embraces strong and everlasting. Their cries were filled with a mix of pleasure and sorrow. Their kisses tasted of salty tears. 

They fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

Haseul woke up alone.


	10. Chapter 8

Nine days had passed since Haseul slept with Vivi for the last time. Not that Haseul was counting or anything. She’d barely seen the Cantonese woman. Vivi spent most of her nights at Sooyoung’s place. Haseul, on the other hand, spent a lot of time sat on the sofa. That also meant spending a lot of time cuddling with Jiwoo since she had claimed the sofa as her own.

Haseul had to admit, she wasn’t as sad as she thought she would be. When she and Vivi broke up the first time, it felt like someone had ripped her heart out and then dropped a tonne of bricks on her. The second time wasn’t much better, even though it was mutual and expected. She supposed what happened between her and her ex wasn’t really a break up, they weren’t together. But it felt like the final chapter of their romance had been completed, the book closed forever. This time, Haseul was sad, of course, but she was at piece. This time, Haseul was ready. This time, she wanted to let Vivi let go. And that makes all the difference. 

Having Jiwoo around the house surprisingly made things easier. Haseul was never alone with Vivi, there was always a buffer. And Jiwoo was sweet and funny and permanently cheerful. It was hard not to get attached to the angel, even if she was loud and secretive. 

Haseul had only left the house twice in the past nine days, perhaps she wasn’t doing as well as she thought. She left once to show Jiwoo around and buy her some clothes and then another time to get some food. All her lectures were recorded anyway, thankfully, so she’d just been studying from home. She appreciated the quiet time, it allowed her to focus on her music. Of course, avoiding all the monstrous people outside was as good a reason as any to avoid the outside. Although, the stone Jungeun left her with helped ease that fear. Simply touching the stone would cause Haseul to fill with warmth. She felt like Jungeun was there beside her, protecting her. Perhaps the reason the Vivi thing didn’t hurt as much as she expected was because she was so intrigued by this woman who had burst into her life as quickly as she left it. 

It was probably around noon when Haseul woke up to voices. She could hear several unfamiliar voices, all speaking in a mix of mostly Mandarin with a bit of Cantonese. Haseul didn’t remember Vivi mentioning that she was having friends over. Groggily, she made herself look presentable by brushing her hair and sticking on some clean clothes. The short woman shuffled towards the kitchen.

The kitchen table was occupied by a small collection of women, five in total, including Vivi. All seemed to be of a similar age, all were startlingly beautiful. Haseul made eye contact with her roommate and felt her stomach churn, in more of a ‘I feel weird around you and there’s a bunch of strangers here’ kind of way than a ‘help I like you’ kind of way.

“Hi,” Haseul said awkwardly. 

One of the women glanced between Haseul and Vivi and asked something in Cantonese which made Vivi go red. 

“Everyone, this is Haseul, my roommate. Haseul, these are my new friends, Elkie, Shuhua, Handong and Tzuyu,” Vivi introduced the table of girls to Haseul. Each woman waved in turn, apart from the last woman, who was closest to the short-haired Korean. This woman stood so she could shake Haseul’s hand. Haseul watched the woman stand in slow motion, her height grew and grew until she was towering over her. She must have been well over six foot, Haseul was surprised she fit through the doorway. 

“Wow, you’re tall,” Haseul squeaked, “How tall exactly?”

“Haseul, don’t be rude, you’re just short,” Vivi scolded. The impossibly tall woman laughed graciously.

“It’s okay, I get it all the time,” her voice was soft and quiet, “I’m 5’7”, I guess that’s tall for a woman, is it not?”

When she tilted her head back and laughed again, Haseul caught a glimpse of the forked tongue inside her mouth. She gulped nervously. 

“I-I guess,” the short woman stammered. The new woman grinned nonchalantly.

“I believe you know my girlfriend, Dahyun,” she said calmly, “She asked me to let you know that her business trip went on longer than expected, but she’ll be in contact with you soon.”

“O-okay,” Haseul stuttered and awkwardly gave the giant a thumbs up. The other women watched Haseul curiously. “Don’t mind me, I’m just getting some lunch.”

Quickly, Haseul chucked some cereal in a bowl with some milk and hurried out of the kitchen while the congregation of women continued their conversation. 

Haseul settled in the living room, taking her usual spot next to Jiwoo, who was focussed on watching the television. 

“Hey, I thought cereal was a breakfast food,” Jiwoo commented when she glanced at Haseul shovelling the sweet corny goodness into her mouth.

“Does it look like I give a shit?” Haseul said, her mouth still full. The angel only grinned in reply. She looked into the kitchen and scowled. 

“Wow, that girl is super tall. She’s hot though,” Jiwoo declared. Haseul rolled her eyes playfully. 

“She also has a forked tongue so I doubt you’d want her as a first kiss,” the older woman commented. Jiwoo nodded in agreement then looked scandalised. 

“Hey, I never said I’d never been kissed before!” Jiwoo cried. Haseul raised her eyebrow. “Okay, I guess kissing isn’t exactly condone in heaven.” 

The giant stood for a moment and helped herself to a glass of water. Jiwoo whistled.

“Wow, and I thought Yves and Olivia were tall,” she chuckled. Haseul frowned. She knew who this Olivia was, but Yves? The name rang in her head. Jiwoo noticed Haseul’s thoughtful expression. Before she could speak, Jiwoo interrupted her. “Oopsie, I said too much. Oh, look it’s shower time, bye!”

Having said that, the angel gracefully leapt from her spot on the sofa and ran towards the bathroom, her withered wings flapped behind her. 

“Yah! Take longer than forty-seconds, stinky!” Haseul shouted after her. Shaking her head in dismay, Haseul returned to her cereal. At least cereal was constant. 

Haseul was working on her music in the living room when the small congregation of Chinese, Cantonese and Taiwanese women finally left. The short-haired woman tried not to laugh when she noticed Tzuyu bang her head on the door frame on the way out. 

Once the door closed, Vivi gingerly approached Haseul and sat on the sofa next to her. 

“I’m sorry if we were too noisy, I didn’t know how loud some of them are. Are you working on an assignment?” she asked loud enough for Haseul to hear through her headphones. Haseul nodded. “Is it going well?”

Sighing, Haseul removed her headphones and shrugged.

“I haven’t had much in the way of motivation recently so… I guess it’s okay. It’s due by the end of term so I really need to finish it,” the short haired woman answered. Vivi nodded in understanding.

“I guess you need to focus on it then,” she hummed. “Hey, Haseul, I think Sooyoung might drop by later to drop off something I left at hers. Do you want me to text you when she’s coming or something?”

Haseul chuckled, “I mean, as long as you don’t make out with her in the middle of the kitchen, I’ll be fine. I mean, it’ll be fine.”

Vivi frowned. 

“Wait, Haseul, do you think Sooyoung and I are dating?” she began to laugh loudly. “Oh God, it’s been ages since we even slept together.”

“But, you’ve spent so much time at hers,” Haseul protested. 

“She’s been sleeping on the floor,” Vivi chuckled. “I know she has a rough exterior and she’s a terrible womanizer, but she’s actually a really good friend, a good person.”

“You’re not trying to set me up with her again, are you?” Haseul asked nervously. Vivi laughed and shook her head. She said her goodbyes and departed, going into her room. 

Haseul couldn’t help but smile to herself. That was probably the most normal interaction she had had with her roommate in a while. And it didn’t ache as much when she left. Perhaps she was just happy that she and Sooyoung weren’t together. Haseul sighed, she removed the laptop from her lap and picked up the round stone that was on the coffee table. She ran her fingertips over the smooth sphere and immediately felt her heart fill with warmth. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, Haseul returned to her assignment.

Hours flew by without Haseul even noticing. She didn’t even realise that so much time had passed until a loud knock on the door disturbed her. Vivi emerged from her room and opened the door. Stood in the doorway was Ha Sooyoung, Haseul could just about see her from her position on the sofa. She looked gorgeous as always, her long black hair was carelessly pulled into a long ponytail. She wore a grey turtleneck and a black blazer with black suit trousers. 

The woman stepped into the living room while Vivi rushed off to her room. 

Sooyoung looked nervous, she bit her lip and put her hands behind her back. Haseul removed her headphones and raised her eyebrows. 

“You look smart,” she commented. 

“Yeah, well, it turns out that you have to work to earn money so…” Sooyoung drawled sarcastically. She cleared her throat awkwardly, “Uh, Vivi unnie has just gone to get something for me.”

The two women stared at each other in silence. Haseul’s thoughts were a little all over the place. Part of her mind was focussed on the scars she was sure she had seen and felt. The part of her mind had gone into panic, after all Sooyoung had touched her between-me-down-there. 

“I’m sorry,” Sooyoung burst out suddenly, “I, uh, I’m sorry I was so harsh when we, um, yeah. I just, didn’t expect anything like that to happen. Thanks for not telling Vivi about me, though. I don’t think she knows about the existence of our kind and it’s better if she doesn’t find out.”

Haseul blinked. 

“What?” 

Sooyoung blinked.

Before either of them could speak, Vivi emerged from her room, plastic bag in hand. Smiling, the Chinese girl gave it Sooyoung, who pulled what looked like a black and white facemask from her pocket. 

The two talked very quietly for a moment. They took a step back from each other and Sooyoung ruffled Vivi’s fringe with a shit-eating grin. The older woman rolled her eyes, but clearly couldn’t fight the grin that formed on her face. Haseul tried very hard not to frown at the interaction.

“Bye, Haseul,” Sooyoung waved a little awkwardly as she left. Haseul returned her wave with equal awkwardness. 

Jiwoo skipped out of Haseul’s room wearing a pair of Haseul’s pajamas. She tried to peek around the door to see who had visited them, but the door clicked shut before she could. She huffed in disappointment. When she grinned back at Haseul, the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Who was that?” the angel asked. Vivi turned and smiled at the small angel. 

“That was my friend, Sooyoung,” she answered, “You just missed her.”

“I bet she would have loved to meet you, Jiwoo,” Haseul said wryly, “Sooyoung loves corrupting innocent girls.”

Vivi rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose, “Actually Sooyoung has a strict no virgins and no straight girls policy.” 

“Oh, because that makes everything better,” Haseul drawled. Vivi narrowed her eyes and Haseul responded by raising her eyebrows challengingly. Thankfully, Jiwoo broke up the tension.

“Well, I think Sooyoung sounds delightful,” Jiwoo announced brightly. She skipped over to the sofa and collapsed onto it, placing her head into Haseul’s lap. Vivi disappeared into her room after she announced that she was going out with some friends and not to wait up for her. Haseul switched on the TV and played with Jiwoo’s fringe while the poor angel asked questions about the terrible soap opera they were watching. Suddenly, Jiwoo sat up with a squeal, she rubbed the back of her head.

“Unnie your crotch is vibrating!” she announced. Haseul pulled her phone out of her pocket and laughed whole-heartedly. Jiwoo blushed a little at her mistake. As it turned out, Haseul had a few unread messages on her phone, one from Heejin, one from Hyunjin and a fresh new message from an unknown number. The one from Hyunjin simply read ‘aeong’. Haseul rolled her eyes fondly. 

The one from Heejin was asking her to meet up the next day so they could visit church together. The unknown number turned out to be Pastor Kim requesting Haseul’s presence at church the next day for she had some information. Haseul sent the unknown number a thumbs up emoji, and then actually replied to Heejin. 

“Wow, phones are so cool and convenient,” Jiwoo remarked, “In heaven we had to rely on letters or just going to see each other personally. Technology isn’t really a thing in heaven. Teacher used to say that technology was an instrument of the unhallowed as it encouraged mankind’s laziness, greed and jealousy.”

“Is that the same teacher that beat you for liking girls?” Haseul asked, “She doesn’t seem like the most trustworthy.”

Jiwoo’s smile slipped off her face, her wings drooped even more than usual. 

“She didn’t beat me, she encouraged me to repent, to be the best angel I could be,” the angel sighed, “And she wasn’t wrong. It was my dedication to my fallen love that caused my wings to whither. Angels aren’t supposed to fall in love.”

Haseul smiled sadly and placed her hand on Jiwoo’s knee.

“Jiwoo, there’s nothing wrong with falling in love, I hope you know that. If it was wrong, why would angels be capable of falling in love?” Haseul asked.

“Love, curiosity, anger, jealousy, these are all feelings that separate angels and humans and demons. Angels should love but not fall in love. They should not feel anger, resentment, fear. The sacred fires of heaven run through my veins, and yet I feel all these things,” Jiwoo whispered. The shorter woman squeezed the fallen angel’s knee.

“Perhaps the lines which define angels and humans are more blurred than you were taught,” Haseul suggested. The angel frowned in contemplation, then eventually nodded in agreement. 

“I once heard that humans run on four emotions. Hope, love, faith and anger. Perhaps angels are very much the same,” 

“Perhaps,” Haseul hummed. Her stomach suddenly ruined the deep moment for it decided to mimic the noises of a dying whale. “It must be time for food.”

Jiwoo’s blinding grin returned to her face. 

After they ate a highly nutritious meal of instant noodles and cheese, Haseul and Jiwoo put on a crappy film that immediately sent the angel to sleep. Haseul turned it off and tucked in her friend, patting her head as if she was her mother.

For once, sleep came easily.


	11. Chapter 9

“Haseul... Haseul...” the faint whispers of her name became louder and louder. The words were fuzzy and unclear. She tossed and turned in her bed, muttering to herself. 

“Haseul,” the word was bold and clear, ringing like a crisp bell in Haseul’s ears. 

The short haired woman bolted upright in her bed, her eyes flew open. Her room was unchanged, save for the woman that stood in the corner. Her scarlet hair and white dress fluttered as if blown by a breeze. The window and door were both closed. 

“Haseul, follow me,” the woman outstretched her hand, her fingers slowly unfurled. 

“Who are you?” Haseul asked, asking the second most sensible question in this situation. The woman’s lip quirked upwards. 

“Call me Jiu,” she replied softly, her hand still outstretched. Curious, Haseul slid off her bed. She looked back and saw her body in her bed. She gasped loudly and immediately put her hands against her body. She could feel herself, she was solid. 

“What the fuck? Am I dead?” the short haired woman asked. 

The red haired woman shook her head and chuckled. 

“No dear, take my hand and you’ll understand,” she replied softly. Gingerly, Haseul reached out and placed her hand on the other woman’s palm. A gust of wind blew into her face. Instinctively, Haseul closed her eyes. 

When she reopened her eyes, she no longer stood in the comfort of her own bedroom. Instead, she stood in a white ballroom. The floor and walls were white, the colour blinding. The ceiling was so high it was like it wasn’t there. The only clear indication that this was a room was the ornate wooden door which stood out against the white of the walls. Haseul glanced down and noticed that she was wearing a plain, white dress. It was odd, she felt like she was still wearing her pajamas. She giggled and swayed, watching the skirt sway as if it was real. The smile dropped off her face and she let go of the woman’s hand. 

“I still don’t understand,” Haseul grumbled. The woman who still stood in front of her laughed. 

“You’re in the dream realm, sweetheart. Stay here, someone wants to say hello to you,” the woman smiled gently, “I’ll be back in due time to guide you back to your own realm.”

Haseul nodded. The woman whipped around and walked forwards. Her body dissolved into the air. 

Some time later, Haseul wasn’t sure if it was a couple of seconds or an entire eternity, the wooden door burst open. A woman wearing a handsome black suit burst through the doors, marching towards Haseul like a woman on a mission. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail that swished as she walked. 

“Jungeun?” 

A grin burst onto the woman’s face and she began to run towards Haseul. Her arms wrapped around her in what felt like a very real hug. She even smelt real. The woman pulled away and smiled shyly at the ground. 

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait, I just had to see you again,” Jungeun apologises. Haseul stared at her and placed her hand on the woman’s cheek. The skin felt hard and cold, almost stone like in texture. 

“I don’t understand, is this real? Are you real?” Haseul stammered. The woman in front of her took Haseul’s hand and held onto it, her grip was both firm and gentle, her touch both warm and cold. 

“Yes and no,” she replied, “Haseul, I haven’t been entirely truthful about who I am and what I do, but I fear that telling you the truth would put you in danger and I know we don’t know each other very well but I care about you and I don’t want to put you in danger.”

Haseul tugged her hand out of Jungeun’s hold and folded her arms. She raised her eyebrow. Jungeun sighed. 

“Haseul, I’ll tell you what I can. It is true that I am a bodyguard, of sorts. It is my divine task. I cannot say anymore about who I work for, who I am or who I once was. However, I can say that this is currently the only way I can reach you. The guardians of the dream realm owe me several favours,” Jungeun laughed awkwardly at this statement. She paused for a moment, and then smiled softly, “I needed to tell you something important, I couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to see you again.”

Haseul had many burning questions, but she swallowed them in favour of listening to what Jungeun had to say. 

“Don’t trust JYP,” Jungeun commanded slowly, firmly. “I don’t much about them and I don’t know if their affiliation is divine, unholy or otherwise, all I know is that they are not to be trusted.”

The silence that followed was deafening. 

“I’ve never even heard of JYP,” Haseul eventually replied slowly. 

“I think you will soon,” Jungeun said mysteriously. She cocked her head to one side, “Do you trust me?”

Before Haseul’s head could decide, her heart spoke for her. 

“Yes,”

The woman in front of her beamed once the look of surprise flashed across her face. 

“Then please, heed my warning. Don’t trust them,” 

“Okay,” Haseul whispered. She laughed suddenly. “You know, I’ve thought about you a lot since we last met.”

Jungeun grinned in response and raised her eyebrow. 

“You left quite an impression on me,” 

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” Jungeun revealed breathlessly. “Sometimes I regret not kissing you.”

Haseul chuckled, “Really?”

“I think that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop,” the taller woman admitted, her cheeks turning a little red. 

“You’re so sweet,” Haseul giggled and stepped towards the woman, wrapping her arms around her cold neck. “I hope that you’ll be able to tell me everything some day, I want to know you, I want to like you.” Jungeun gave her a thin-lipped smile. 

“I promise, one day I will tell you everything. I swear on mine own soul, you will know the truth. I can’t tell you here though, even the dream realm is not free from prying ears,” 

“I’ll wait for the day I learn the truth, but I won’t wait forever,” Haseul warned. Jungeun nodded sagely and brushed a stray hair out of the shorter woman’s face. “When will I see you again?”

Jungeun shrugged with a pout. 

“I don’t know, but I do have several favours to cash in, so hopefully soon.”

Jungeun looked around the ballroom and smirked. 

“Seems like we’ve still got time,” she mused. Gracefully, the smirk still on her face, she stepped backwards and bowed with her hand outstretched. “Care to dance? This is a ballroom after all.”

Haseul took her cold hand and ran her fingers over the bizarrely textured skin. She smiled shyly as the other woman approached her slowly, seductively. 

“I’ve never danced like that before,” she mumbled, a light dusting of red coated her cheeks. 

“I’ll lead,” 

Haseul suddenly felt a hand come to rest of her waist and she was swept into action. Her feet soon found the pattern created by Jungeun. She grinned and laughed as the taller woman pulled her into sweeping turns, the feet painting patterns all over the ballroom. Jungeun let go of one of Haseul’s hands and led her into an under arm turn. As she completed her turn, Haseul lost her balance and fell forwards, colliding against Jungeun’s surprising solid chest. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her from slipping to the floor. Haseul looked up into Jungeun’s dark eyes, she was surprised by the gentle concern that filled them. Haseul steadied herself by placing on hand on the taller woman’s shoulder. Her other hand was attracted to Jungeun’s cold cheek like a magnet. The skin warmed and softened in her hold. Haseul’s eyes almost automatically dropped down to Jungeun’s lips, her pretty red lips. Her chest heaved though she was not tired from the dancing. Haseul looked back up of Jungeun’s eyes and noticed how they had darkened, her lids seemed heavier. Haseul suddenly felt a gently breath against her skin, yet she didn’t quite realise that that was the first time she felt it. 

“Haseul...” Jungeun breathed. 

“It is time.”

The pair broke apart faster a couple of horny teenagers who had been caught by their parents. Haseul knew she was turning red. The red haired woman had reappeared, except her hair was blonde now. She still wore that same white dress. 

“Come now, Jo Haseul, it is time for you to return to reality. And you, Kim Lip, I believe you can only escape your fate for so long, even if it is only your consciousness that has wondered from it’s post,” the woman’s smile was polite, but her voice had a hidden sinister tone. 

Jungeun nodded. She bowed graciously to Haseul and winked at her when she straightened. She then bowed at the woman in the white dress. 

“Send the others my regards,” she said casually. The woman smirked. 

“You can tell them yourself, I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing you again soon,” her eyes crinkled with amusement. 

Jungeun exited through the same door she came through. The woman in the white dress watched her go with a raised eyebrow. 

“She’s certainly changed for the better. She likes you a lot,” she commented wryly. Haseul felt her cheeks warm. The woman smiled again, “Listen, I have something for you.”

She extended her hand and an object slowly began to form in the palm of her hand. It was pale and grey with age, a small piri. 

“What’s it for?” Haseul asked. The woman chuckled. 

“You’ll know,”

Haseul reached out slowly, her fingers wrapped the cold instrument. Instinctively, she screamed. 

The bed was warm and coated in sweat. Haseul jumped awake, her body lurching from the mattress. Her heart pounded in her chest. The short woman began to laugh hysterically. As she calmed down, she noticed Jiwoo stood in the doorway. Her expression was uncharacteristically serious. Haseul jumped again, clutching her heart. 

“You were taken into the dream realm, weren’t you?” she said, her voice low and quiet, “It is common for the rulers of the dream realm to visit humans, it’s how they dream, but you shouldn’t follow them into their realm.”

Haseul frowned, “Why not? And how the fuck do you know?”

Jiwoo shrugged, “I’m an angel, or at least I was.”

She wiggled her battered wings as if to remind Haseul. The short haired woman scoffed in response. Jiwoo plonked herself down on Haseul’s bed. 

“Look, you should never enter the dream realm by yourself. It’s dangerous. And, more importantly, you should never leave your physical body unguarded. You’ve just left a perfect empty vessel for attacks or possessions,” Jiwoo warned. She patted Haseul’s head, “And you should never take something from the dream realm, the residents will always come to take it back, no matter the cost. I once heard of an angel who stole an ancient relic from the dream realm. The rulers hired a team of ferocious demons to take it back, even allowing them access to their own source of power. The demons released their power on the angel, destroying everything in their wake, destroying consecrated ground and killing numerous angels. You humans were lucky that the demons chose to take the battle to heaven. Otherwise you humans would have been in deep shit.”

Haseul’s grip on the object in her hand tightened. 

“Does it count if a dream realm resident gives you a gift?” Haseul asked, her voice shaking a little. Jiwoo tilted her head and puffed out her cheeks.

“I suppose if they chose to give you something then that would be fine,” the angel remarked. 

Haseul showed the angel what had been hidden beneath her covers. Jiwoo’s eyes bulged as she snatched up the item. She whistles as she turned the piri over in her hands. She handed back the instrument and pointed to where a small letter ‘H’ was scratched into the smooth material. 

“H for Haseul?” she asked. Haseul shrugged. 

“Perhaps.”

“Are you going to show this to your church friend?” Jiwoo asked curiously. Haseul thought for a moment. She thought of Jungeun’s strange warning. 

“No, I don’t think I should,” she answered carefully.

“Wise,” remarked the angel. “You don’t want a gift from the dream realm to fall into the wrong hands.”

Haseul bit her lip as she ran her hands over the horn, her fingers dragged slowly over the ‘H’. 

“I think that you should stay here when I go to church with Heejin today,” Haseul said carefully. Jiwoo pouted adorably. “I don’t know if I fully trust the church people and I don’t want to risk anything.”

Jiwoo chuckled softly, “You’re smarter than I thought, lil’ angel.”

“You’re the angel here,” drawled Haseul. 

“I guess. I’m gonna go sleep some more,” the fallen angel announced. She bounced off Haseul’s bed and skipped away. Haseul could only watch in bewilderment. Jiwoo was weird.


	12. Interlude II

A teenage girl sat in front of an easel, her favourite brush glided over the canvas with practiced ease. Her teacher stood behind her and guided his student with gentle words. The girl set her brush down and regarded her work critically. The rose was lifelike, a perfect mimicry of the rose that sat before her. The lifelike glisten of the painted pool of blood of which the rose lay in was frightening. The teacher could almost feel the blood on his hands. So could the girl. 

“Your painting improves more and more each day,” her teacher complimented and the teenager accepted graciously. “Now come, you have your father’s commission to finish.”

The smile on the girl’s face fell. She frowned and picked at her skirt. 

“Can we do something else? I don’t want to,” the girl asked, her voice filled with fear. 

“Your father will be displeased,” her teacher warned. The teenager begged once more, and the teacher agreed warily. He sat beside the girl, warning her that they shouldn’t start another piece, lest her father realise she had not worked on his commission. 

“You knew father when he was young, did you not? What was he like?” the girl asked. 

“We went to university together, we were neighbours and very good friends. He was different back then, the son of a poor man with a million dreams. He was ambitious, that hasn’t changed. But he was warm and friendly, eager to please. He respected my choice to study art rather than science like my parents wished. He wanted to help people, but he was determined that his children would not suffer the same fate he did, a poor miserable childhood.”

The teenager scoffed, “I think I’d rather be poor than miserable.”

Her teacher laughed, “Spoken like the daughter of a rich man.”

The teenager rolled her eyes, but couldn’t mask the smile that painted her lips. It felt odd to smile. Sometimes she forgot that she knew how. 

“Sometimes I wish you were my father,” the girl mused. A strange expression marred her teacher’s face. He stood abruptly. 

“Enough talking, lets work on your father’s commission.”

The teenager sat a table eating her dinner in silence. Her father sat on the other end of the table contemplating his glass of ruby red wine, his food untouched. 

“Did you finish my commission?” the man asked. He took a sip from his glass, his lips were stained with red when he lowered his glass. 

The teenager froze and shook her head tensely. 

The man’s voice was full of poorly suppressed rage, “You’ve been working all day haven’t you? Why haven’t you finished this piece yet, you useless child?” he berated his daughter harshly. The teenager shook. 

“It takes time to finish my work. It will only work if the painting is realistic. It takes time to make it realistic,” 

Her father scoffed loudly. 

“And I suppose you’ve finished painting your rose?” The girl did not respond. “Answer me.” The girl dipped her head. “Answer me!” the man bellowed. The girl nodded her head ever so slightly, just enough that her father would see. 

The sound of glass shattering filled the room. The girl looked and saw red stain against the white wall of the room and the red puddle on the ground. A vase of roses tumbled from it’s standing, disturbed by the thrown glass. A single, pale pink rose tumbled into the deep red puddle. The girl whimpered. 

“You are forbidden from painting anything that I have not asked for. You will paint what I tell you to and when I tell you. Understand, you stupid brat?” her father boomed in his weak voice. The young girl nodded her head once more. Her father visibly calmed. He straightened his tie and sat down. He rang a bell, signalling to staff. 

“My dear daughter, tell me, can you be taught to paint faster? Is that a teachable skill?”

“I suppose,” the girl stammered. The man grinned like a shark and finally acknowledged the servant by his side. 

“Fetch me a new bottle of wine. Start the hiring process and see that a new art teacher can be hired. Salary is not an issue,” he demanded. The servant nodded. The man grabbed the servant closer and whispered just loud enough that his daughter could hear, “See that my dear friend Tian Fang is dealt with.”

The girl sat in front of a canvas. Her new art teacher, a stern man who was a little too fond of violence, watched from behind, his presence cold and unwelcome. The teenage girl’s hand shook as she finished the final touch to the noose around the painted man’s neck. 

“What now?” the new teacher asked. 

“Turn on the radio. We must be patient,” the girl replied monotonously. 

An hour later, an important message rang through the room. 

“Breaking news, Shang Lie Wei, the famous government official and rumoured whistleblower who has recently expressed interested in presidential candidacy, has been found dead in his apartment. His death has been ruled a suicide. Rumours of foul play are at work. Police reports state that he was found hung by his ten year old son and there is no evidence of outside forces. His wife...”

The girl tuned out the words of the radio as she stared at her work. Her vacant eyes took in the man’s face, his lifeless eyes, his blueish lips and she felt nothing but numbness. All she could do was wait for her father’s next commission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple more short chapters for y’all to read and hopefully enjoy. As always, feel free to leave any comments, ngl I do like feedback. Bye pals!


	13. Chapter 10

It was cold. Of course it was, it was nearly December. Haseul wished she had put on a scarf to block out the biting wind which nibbled at her nose and cheeks. She stood under the shadows of the church, hoping that the building would shield her from the worst of the winds. It helped a bit. The shadows of the church helped in other ways. It quietened that weird uneasiness that followed Haseul everywhere she went. It also seemed to keep out those people with weird body parts. Jiwoo said they were demons. If Jiwoo was an angel, then it made sense that demons were real. Haseul just thought they would be less humanoid. 

Haseul glanced at the clock on her phone and huffed. It wasn’t like Heejin to be late. She wondered what the hold-up was. The short haired woman folded her arms and wondered inside of the church, taking sanctuary from the increasingly violent winds. She sent a quick message to her friend so that she wouldn’t be stood outside waiting for her. Not that she was bitter about that, or anything. 

As soon as her butt touched the pew, a small person appeared in front of Haseul wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Ey yo, weird unnie! Where’ve you been hiding?” the girl asked. Haseul smiled fondly.

“Hey, Yeojin,” she greeted as she opened her arms up for a hug. The young woman hugged Haseul briefly, but jumped back when the older woman’s hand brushed over her arm. 

“Whoa watch out, mind my arm!” Yeojin cried. She noticed Haseul’s quizzical expression. “I had my blood test today.”

“Blood test? Holy shit, are you alright?” Haseul exclaimed. Instictively, she grabbed Yeojin’s face and inspected her skin and eyes for any signs of illness, monitoring the temperature of the girl’s skin. Yeojin whined as she scrambled out of Haseul’s embrace.

“I’m fine, it was my weekly blood test,” she declared as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Fucking hell, unnie, you’re so weird.”

Haseul frowned, “You have blood tests every week? That’s fucking weird bro.”

Yeojin gasped dramatically and the two began to squabble. Like siblings. Haseul paled at the realisation and fell silent. She turned her gaze away from the young woman.

“Anyway, what doctor’s clinic would let you have weekly blood tests if you’re healthy? Waste of time and money,” Haseul managed to spit the words out. Yeojin scoffed.

“It’s a private doctors’ practice,” she declared, “And it’s not like I have to pay for it myself, dumbass.”

“Well, who even takes you? Do you just go by yourself?”

“No, mum. Sometimes someone from the practice would come and get me, but now Pastor Kim usually takes me. Or one of her girlfriends. I think her girlfriend works for JYP,” Yeojin mused.

“JYP?” Haseul squeaked, remembering Jungeun’s strange warning from the previous night. 

“Yeah, JYP. Jolly Youth Practice. They specialise in paediatrics, but they’ll treat old hags like you,” Yeojin grinned and laughed loudly at her own joke. Haseul scowled. “Anyway, what are you doing back here? Visiting Kim Lip? I could tell you liked her. Visiting me? Aw, unnie, you shouldn’t have.”

“Actually, I’m here to see Pastor Kim, I’m waiting for my friend first though,” Haseul said matter-of-factly. Yeojin’s face fell noticeably. Haseul immediately remembered that Yeojin was still a kid, really. A kid who had grown up in care, gone through some trauma and seemed to be incredibly lonely. “But I was hoping to see you too! That’s why I came in early, to see you!”

Yeojin beamed in response. Before anything more could be said, Haseul felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she slapped the hand off her shoulder as she whipped around. Heejin stared down at her then made a show of cradling her hand and whining about how much it hurt. Haseul rolled her eyes at the dramatics and reassured Yeojin, who looked extremely concerned, that Heejin was just messing around. A wary look on her face, the small girl bowed to the newcomer and excused herself, making a swift exit. Heejin watched the teenager leave in bewilderment.

“Dude, that girl looks exactly like…” Heejin trailed off. Haseul nodded absently.

“I know,” Haseul said, her voice low, “It’s not her though. Yeojin grew up in care before the church took her in. It’s not her, it can’t be.”

“I know, I know. It’s weird though. She seems to like you,” Heejin commented cautiously. Haseul smirked.

“Yeah, she clearly didn’t like you much, you big drama queen. That must have been a new experience,” Haseul teased wryly and nudged her good friend. Heejin laughed good naturedly, but quickly changed the topic. 

It didn’t take long for the pastor they were looking for to show up. Kim Dahyun was looking pretty as always. She wore a simple, but cute, makeup look paired with her priestly robes and blonde locks tied up in a neat bun. A beaming grin completed her look. Haseul on the other hand was looking a no makeup look, her hair was back in a scruffy ponytail and her hoodie may or may not have had toothpaste and Jiwoo’s drool on it. Heejin looked very put together, as always, which made Haseul feel even scruffier. But it was fine. She wasn’t here for a fashion show, she was here for answers about the weird visions of heaven and all that shit. 

The pastor lead Haseul and Heejin towards a room at the back of the church. She made pleasant conversation about how they had been and avoided any questions about her girlfriend’s business trip. Which was fine. Totally fine and not at all suspicious. Haseul wondered if Dahyun, a pastor, was aware that her girlfriend was a demon. Surely some sort of religious rule was ‘don’t date demons’?

Once they were seated in the room, Dahyun offered the women coffee and disappeared to get the pair a quick drink. Haseul watched the blonde wander off, then quickly turned to Heejin.

“Look, I need to tell you something. I had a dream last night, where Jungeun visited me and told me not to trust-” Haseul began to whisper. 

“Why are you whispering?” Heejin asked loudly.

“I’m not sure we can trust these guys,” 

“You’re being paranoid, Haseul. Pastor Kim has helped so much, I really don’t think she’s the one you can’t trust,” Heejin said, once again a little too loudly for Haseul’s taste. The short haired woman huffed in annoyance. She wanted to try to convince Heejin to listen to her, but she was aware Heejin was stubborn, much like herself. She’d have to talk to her after the meeting. Haseul eyed Dahyun nervously as she entered the room with another beaming grin and couple of steaming cups of coffee. 

There was something shifty about the way she smiled, the way she held the cups. Okay, there wasn’t really. Haseul was trying to connect non-existent dots between a weird dream warning, a doctor’s practice and a woman that was trying to help her. Or was she? She was. Unless?

Haseul’s rambling internal monologue was interrupted by Heejin complimenting the pastor’s coffee making skills. Dahyun made a comment about how her old job required her to make a lot of cups of coffee. Haseul scowled. She suspected Dahyun was a bit young to have had multiple jobs. She tried to tell herself to stop being so paranoid. Dahyun was here to help. Damn Jungeun with her crazy warning and handsome suit and pretty hair and good dancing and sexy lips… and now Haseul was distracted for an entirely different reason. 

“Is the coffee okay for you? Too strong? I can add more milk or sugar?” Dahyun asked, snapping Haseul out of her Jungeun induced day dream. Hastily, the older woman took a sip of the hot liquid. It was bitter and strong, not much sweetness. It wasn’t terrible, but not how she liked it. Any other person may have gently requested a bit of sugar. Haseul, on the other hand, didn’t want to offend and told Dahyun it was perfect. The pastor’s adorable smile was worth the white lie. 

Dahyun set a heavy binder on the table. She opened the file and flicked through the pages. Haseul caught glimpses of a range of photos and documents. There long, hand-written essays on yellowing pages, scripture typed out of coffee stained documents. There were a range of pictures, some were sketches of ethereal beings and monstrous men, some were high quality pictures of men and women with white wings, yellow cat eyes or hundreds of teeth. 

One picture stood out to her. It was a black and white sketch, what seemed to be an artist’s interpretation of a massacre in the heavens. There were men and women in robes with large, feathered wings defending themselves against a small band of women. The angel’s faces were drawn in expressions of eerie terror. The band of women were drawn with wide grins and monstrous teeth. There were three which were drawn facing the front, the rest were drawn with their back to the chorus of armed angels. The only colour on the page was the startling bright colours that decorated one of each woman’s eyes. One was blue, one was purple and one was red. It was odd, the one with the red eye looked weirdly familiar. 

“What’s that picture of?” Haseul pointed curiously. Dahyun raised her eyebrow.

“This is a depiction of one of the darkest days of the heavens. A band of demons attacked the heavens unprovoked and stole an angel right from under the Lord’s metaphorical nose. Don’t worry though, according to the scripture, the demon responsible was punished for her crime,” Dahyun explained calmly. 

The pastor continued to flick through the binder until she reached a point. 

“Now then, Haseul-unnie. I can call you unnie right? Anyway, I have some questions about the vision you had and what prompted the vision?” the pastor declared. She unscrewed the lid off a very expensive looking fountain pen and began to probe away. Haseul cautiously recounted the vision she had of the angel Yves being cast out from the heavens. Dahyun probed her for details about the surroundings and about the angels which she saw. Once she finished probing, Dahyun silently looked at her notes. She sat back in her chair and smiled.

“Well, it looks like it was definitely heaven that you saw. And it was definitely a chorus of angels which surrounded you. Everything you’ve said matches the scripture and accounts perfectly. I haven’t found an angel named Yves though. Perhaps she was a very young or very low angel,” Dahyun explained. 

“Okay, great, but that doesn’t explain why I had this vision,” Haseul exclaimed. 

“Ah, I was just getting to that. Well, some people are able to see visions of heaven after touching an object which once belonged to the heavens. It seems you’ve been in contact with a fallen angel,” Dahyun mused.

“Well, I didn’t see the vision when I making out with her, only when I touched the scars on her back!” Haseul cried. Dahyun tilted her head inquisitively. 

“Interesting. Perhaps one must touch the most heavenly part of them, so to speak. So, you made out with a fallen angel? What was her name, did she tell you her name was Yves? Do you have her number?” the pastor bombarded Haseul with questions. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Haseul gulped down the coffee. In Dahyun’s excitement, her priestly robes slipped down a little, just enough to reveal the top of the t-shirt she wore underneath and the lanyard around her neck. The lanyard had a logo on it. JYP.

“I- uh. She said her name was Yves. I didn’t get her details. She was a one night stand and she left after I came to after the whole vision thing,” Haseul scratched her neck as she lied through her teeth. Heejin scowled. Dahyun wrote something down in teeny tiny, illegible writing and nodded. 

“Heejin, have you had any visions?” the pastor asked sweetly. Heejin’s frown deepened.

“I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know. I think I may have seen heaven as well but not in a good way. I don’t know if I can talk about it,” she whispered. Her dark eyes were haunted. 

Dahyun pursed her lips and racked her eyes up and down Heejin. Haseul decided to save the poor girl and put the attention back onto herself.

“Why is it that we’ve had these visions and no one else? Why can we see the demons and no one else?” Haseul asked loudly.

“Demons?” Heejin exclaimed, clearly alarmed. Dahyun seemed impressed.

“I- uh- I guess? I mean what else could they be?”

“How intuitive,” Dahyun chuckled. She consulted her notes once more, then spoke up. “I believe, from my research, that people who see demons and visions of heaven are special. I have good reason to believe that these people, people like you and Heejin, have heavenly blood running through their veins.”

“That can’t be true! My parents are human!” Haseul exclaimed.

“Every family has it’s secrets,” Dahyun remarked. “Look, I think I have some friends who may be able to help you more than I can.”

Heejin’s hand smacked hard against the table. Despite her aggressive reaction, her eyes lit up with joy and a smile crept on to her face.

“Really? You have friends who can help?” Heejin squealed. Haseul was a little more apprehensive.

“Help in what way?” she asked. Dahyun smiled graciously.

“They may be able to help find out why you have these abilities,” she answered softly. 

“Would they be able to get rid of them?” Heejin asked eagerly. Dahyun shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe, but probably not. They’d be able to help you control them, make dealing with the weight of these abilities easier,” the pastor responded thoughtfully. 

“When can we meet them?” the youngest exclaimed, almost rising from her seat.

Dahyun pulled a mobile phone out from somewhere under her robes and glanced at it.

“Like, five minutes,” she answered, “I’m meeting with one of my friends for lunch so I can introduce you, if you want.”

“Oh, it’s okay, we wouldn’t want to intrude,” Haseul said awkwardly. 

“Yes please! That’s amazing,” Heejin cried at the exact same time. Haseul groaned inwardly. 

Dahyun’s smile widened and typed into her phone. She excused herself for a moment to get changed and left Heejin and Haseul alone once more, taking the binder with her. The room fell silent. Tension began to populate the air. Haseul finally formulated the words she wanted to say and gingerly began to speak.

“Heejin-ah, I know this is a massive deal. Someone may know what is happening to us, and that’s amazing. I know that’s what you want to hear, and I want it to, I’m just not sure if we can trust these people. We don’t know who they are or what they want or if they’ll even help,” Haseul spoke cautiously, warily, aware of the bizarre energy that was vibrating through Heejin. The younger woman sighed, her hands gripped the edge of the table. Heejin turned to Haseul.

“Unnie. I don’t think you understand how much I need these answers. For as long as I could remember, I’ve seen monstrous beings, monstrous things. As I kid, people thought I was messing around. They never took me seriously. As I got older, everyone thought I was crazy. They drugged me and put me through awful therapy to get of things that couldn’t be gotten rid of. I went through hell and back until I realised that it was easier to pretend it didn’t happen. And it does happen. I haven’t stopped seeing all these horrible things. And all I can do is ask myself, why me? Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this? I’m clearly not normal, and I wish I was. Not just for my sake, but for Hyunjin, my family, for everyone. I want to be happy, and I can never be happy if I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Heejin took a deep breath, clearly fighting to keep the tears within her eyes. Haseul was too tired to fight the tears which dripped down her cheeks. “Don’t you want me to be happy?” she asked, her voice higher than usual, broken. 

“Of course, I do, Heejin. I want answers too. And you’re not alone, not anymore. You have me, I understand now,” Haseul reached out to touch Heejin’s curled up fist. 

“You don’t understand!” Heejin exploded, “How can you possibly understand what it was like for me? I never knew my real father, I grew up in a hyper religious household where I was taught that everything about me was wrong. You never had to deal with that. And on top of that, I could see fucking monsters roaming the streets and spent several years of my life drugged up to the point that I didn’t know what was real. You, Haseul, you couldn’t possibly understand what that was like. You shagged an angel and suddenly you could see demons. It’s not the same.”

“We didn’t shag,” Haseul muttered quietly to herself.

“But these people…” Heejin continued, “These people may actually help me understand what is going on! Pastor Kim never treated me different or thought I was crazy, she believed me and she believed you. Maybe these people can’t help us, maybe we can’t trust them, but there is a chance that they have the answers I need. It might be a small chance, but a small chance is all I need. I’ve had nothing to believe in for so long, but now I can believe in this chance. Can’t you trust me?”

Haseul regarded Heejin’s face. She took in her watery eyes and the desperation that lay within them. For the first time, she noticed the make-up covered bags under Heejin’s eyes, the faint lines that marred her forehead. She needed this and who was Haseul to take it away from her?

“I do trust you, of course I do. I trust that you know what’s best for you,” Haseul said maturely, “But I don’t trust these people who are associated with JYP, an organisation I’ve been warned against. I have a bad feeling about these people, Heejin. But, I trust you and your decisions. I won’t join you, I won’t ask for help from these people, but I will support every decision you make whole heartedly. I’m here for you. Heejin, I will always be here for you.”

“Will you stay with me while I meet Pastor Kim’s friends?” Heejin sniffled. Haseul wiped the stray tear that ran down Heejin’s cheek before she wiped her own cheeks. She nodded in response. The silence returned to the room. It was a much gentler silence, one of understanding and sadness rather than one of pain, confusion and anger. The young pastor soon interrupted the silence by entering the room wearing a hoodie, jeans and a pretty coat. She surely noticed the two girls’ puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks, but chose not to comment on it. Haseul wondered if she had heard Heejin’s outburst. Haseul wouldn’t have been surprised if the whole church had heard Heejin’s outburst. 

The young pastor quietly led the pair out of the room and back into the main hall of the church, where a small group of women were sat on talking on the first row of the pews. One of them stood up with a grin when she spotted the small group approaching them. The others soon followed and crowded around the tiny pastor. Heejin gripped onto Haseul’s hand. Haseul recognised the pretty woman who was pressing kisses onto Dahyun’s face and neck as her girlfriend, Sana. The three other women were completely new to Haseul. One was tall, the other two were shorter, but still taller than Haseul.

“Hey, is Chaeng not coming?” Dahyun asked. 

“Nah, she’s having lunch in Mina’s office,” the tall one answered. The pastor’s girlfriend gently slapped the pastor’s arm and pouted. 

“Why do we never have lunch in your office?” she whined. Dahyun looked a little uncomfortable and laughed it off. The woman with a mother’s smile spotted the pair hiding behind Pastor Kim and then took a step towards them. When she bowed, Haseul spotted the same JYP lanyard that Dahyun had been wearing underneath her hoodie. 

“Hello, I’m Park Jihyo. Dahyun’s told me a lot about you two,” her tone was soft but authoritative. The women around her seemed to hang off her every word. “I assume you may have met Sana, but these two are Jeongyeon and Momo, or the terrible twosome as I like to call them.”

“Oh, are you a couple?” Heejin asked, her voice shaky. The taller of the pair burst into loud, boisterous laughter. The shorter, black haired woman just looked confused. 

“Nah, Momo has a boyfriend. A much older boyfriend,” the tall woman announced cheekily. 

The other woman rolled her eyes, “He’s thirty-six,”

“That’s not so ba-” Haseul’s interjection was interrupted by the tall woman.

“Thousand, four hundred and twenty-seven,” she finished. Haseul decided to keep her mouth shut from there on. 

The authoritative woman, Jihyo, stared at Heejin and Haseul, her large eyes taking in every aspect of them. From the crinkle of eyebrows, Haseul suspected that she wasn’t checking them out, but drinking in their body language and reading their expressions. The short woman attempted to put on a mask disinterest to hide her uneasiness, but Haseul had always been expressive. 

“Please excuse my friends and colleagues, I think it’s been awhile since they’ve had contact with people outside of work,” she said, her voice was smooth and almost hypnotic. “Speaking of work, Dahyunnie mentioned at you two have had some strange experiences recently. If you accept our help, we can help you find out why these have happened and, with your cooperation, hopefully help you manage them.”

“Will it cost much? I can’t really afford to pay much,” Heejin mumbled, more nervous that Haseul had ever seen her before. 

Jihyo laughed and Haseul felt even more uncomfortable. It was a well-practiced fake laugh, it almost sounded completely real. Haseul would have been fooled if it weren’t for the subtle hollowness of the laugh. When you teach yourself how to laugh convincingly, it makes it easier to spot when others have done the same. Although Haseul suspected their practiced laughter was formulated for different reasons.

“We don’t expect you to pay anything, of course not,” Jihyo said in sweet, entrancing tone. “All we ask for is your patience and trust. We won’t be able to answer all of your questions at once.”

Heejin seemed to deflate a little bit. Haseul felt for her. The poor girl was desperate for answers, much more so than Haseul. 

“If you’re okay with it, can I get your contact details? We’ve got a reservation for lunch and we’re in a bit of a rush. We can arrange a meeting to discuss everything and perhaps answer some of those questions of yours,” the woman with a motherly smile produced her phone from her pocket and handed it directly to Heejin. The teenager eagerly typed her number into the phone and handed the device back to Jihyo. Haseul, on the other hand, eyed the very expensive device and turned her nose up at it. 

“I’m good thanks, I have a lot going on right now. I really don’t need the distraction,” Haseul announced curtly. All of the women looked baffled, a couple of them couldn’t mask the anger that flashed across their faces. Jihyo was the first to regain composure. She pocketed her phone and smiled once more.

“Well, if you change your mind, you can always contact us through Dahyun,” she declared gently. Haseul nodded shortly. The group of women waved goodbye and walked out of the church, chatting amongst themselves. Heejin watched them leave, a wide smile starting to form on her face. Haseul, on the other hand, scanned the church for her little friend. She spotted the young woman peeking around the corner of a pillar, watching Haseul and Heejin intently. 

After asking Heejin to stay where she was for a couple of minutes, Haseul quietly approached the pillar and poked her head around the corner. She smirked down at the small woman and folded her arms intimidatingly. Yeojin looked up at her with big, round, doe eyes. 

“Have fun spying on me, did you?” Haseul asked. Yeojin snorted.

“Who said I was spying on you, you egomaniac?” she retorted, “This is literally the most interesting thing that has happened for weeks.”

Haseul laughed sincerely and leant casually on the pillar. 

“Do you want to do something that’ll keep you entertained?” Haseul asked slyly, “How do you feel about keeping an eye on Pastor Kim and her friends from JYP?”

Yeojin narrowed her eyes, “What do I get in return? I don’t do shit for free.”

Haseul tapped her chin and hummed, “Well, what do you want? Money? Sweets?”

“How about you owe me a favour? I do you a favour, you do me one, ya feel?” Yeojin proposed with a smirk. Haseul agreed and shook the young woman’s hand purposely. “What’s this all about anyway? Why do you want me to spy on those people?”

“Let’s just say, my friend in very reliant on them for answers and I don’t know if they can be trusted,” Haseul answered mysteriously. Her half-answer seemed to please Yeojin, who’s smirk turned into a smile. 

The short-haired woman quickly returned to Heejin, who was staring up at the stained-glass window with blank eyes. When Haseul approached, she turned to face her and half smiled with a sigh. Haseul returned the lazy smile and clapped her back. 

“Come on, let’s go get lunch. It’s on me,” Haseul said, “Let’s talk about something completely different. I can tell you about Vivi and Sooyoung and my crippling loneliness and you can tell me all about Hyunjin’s latest crazy scheme.”

Heejin sniffled and wiped at her eyes. 

“Yeah, okay. Unnie, I’m sorry I shouted at you,” she apologised. Haseul shrugged it off.

“C’mon Heejin, you’ve witnessed some of my worst breakdowns and that was nothing compared to what I’ve said to you, let’s be real. I’m still here, I’m still your friend and I always will be,” Haseul said quietly, just loud enough for her friend to hear. The black-haired girl hugged Haseul tightly then pulled away, still sniffling. 

“Hey, if Hyunjin asks, could you just say that we went for coffee. I don’t want her worrying,” Heejin requested nervously. Haseul smiled awkwardly and nodded. The pair linked arms and strode out of the church. Once they were outside of the church, Heejin noticeably perked up. “Hey, unnie, have I told you about how Hyunjin got fired from her job? She decided to turn the café she was working at into a cat café. One of the cats shat on her boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeet. 
> 
> Hopefully the next update won't be too long. I've planned out the next chapter, but I'm still busy with uni so we'll see. 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy and as always feel free to comment if it pleases you.


	14. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friendos, another chapter for your (finger crossed) enjoyment. It's a rough one ngl. As always, feel free to comment or whatever. 
> 
> On other note: Not be controversial or anything, but having watched Loona's Sorry cover, I have come to the conclusion that Kim Lip would look fucking hot with short (as in properly short short) hair.

“Happy birthday!” Haseul cried in unison with the rest of the guests when Vivi walked into the room, Heejin and Hyunjin behind her. A wide smile appeared on her face and she even looked a little teary. Haseul stood awkwardly and watched as her ex greeted all of her guests in turn, thanking them for coming. She seemed to have saved Haseul for last.

“Wow, you did all this for me?” she asked. Haseul shrugged. 

“It was Heejin and Hyunjin’s idea. Did you really have no clue?” Haseul laughed. The Chinese woman grinned.

“I really didn’t, I’m impressed, Jo Haseul. Did you set all of this up by yourself? That must have been so stressful,” 

“Well, Jiwoo helped a bit. And it was fine, no stress at all.” 

That was a lie. There was a lot of stress. Haseul had been tasked with setting up an entire party in approximately two hours armed with nothing but her notebook, her wits and Jiwoo. Heejin and Hyunjin had taken Vivi out for dinner at five thirty, exactly, and the guests were due to arrive between seven and seven thirty. She needed to have all decorations up before then, otherwise she’d have to decorate around the guests and that would be a nightmare. 

The short-haired woman, before she had done anything, sent Jiwoo out with a wad of cash and detailed instructions to pick up the cake prepared especially for Vivi, a selection of sweet potato inspired snacks and some alcohol. The house had been lacking in alcohol and Haseul was sure that she’d need several drinks after all this panic. She was glad she’d stocked up, she was itching to have a drink.

While Jiwoo was out, the balloons were blown up and placed strategically around the flat. All the banners were put up all over the walls. Snacks that Haseul had kept hidden in her room were put into bowls alongside the snacks that Haseul had ordered from Hong Kong. When Jiwoo returned half an hour later, she had been immediately put to work moving the furniture around to make space while Haseul decorated the cake with candles, hid her alcohol in the cupboards and finished off the snack table. 

The apartment had been decorated in record time with plenty of time for Haseul to get herself ready for the party. While she had done the task, that didn’t mean it wasn’t ridiculously stressful. Haseul was glad she hadn’t had to deal with sending invites and sorting out guests as well. 

Vivi looked at Haseul, probably noticing the slightly pained smile. She laughed and placed her hand on Haseul’s bicep.

“You’re one of a kind, Jo Haseul,” she chuckled. She wondered off to and talk to her Chinese friends, leaving Haseul watching her with a million thoughts racing through her mind. Haseul shook them away and joined Jiwoo in the kitchen with 2Jin. She poured herself and Jiwoo a drink and sighed. The angel inspected the liquid and sipped on it tentatively. She pulled a face, but continued to have another sip. Remembering that this was likely her first time drinking, Haseul warned the angel to take it easy, not go too hard. Jiwoo shrugged. 

“Well, I do have heavenly fire in my veins. Let’s see if that means I get drunk quickly or slowly,” she suggested cheerfully and then began to walk away.

“Jiwoo! Now is not the time for experimentation!” Haseul called the angel in distress. This night was going to be fun. So. Much. Fun. 

Haseul remained in the kitchen for a while, talking to Heejin and Hyunjin. The shorter of the pair had one drink and was immediately tipsy. She clung onto her girlfriend and rubbed her cheek with her own like an overly affectionate kitten. Hyunjin pretended to be unbothered, but her red cheeks betrayed her. Soon Heejin spotted Tzuyu, who she claimed she knew via Pastor Kim and JYP, and head off to talk to her. 

As soon as the tipsy woman was out of earshot, Hyunjin turned to Haseul with a very concerned look on her face.

“Haseul unnie. I need to talk to you,” she said, her voice low, “I’m worried about Heejin.”

Haseul raised her eyebrow. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. 

“What’s up?”

Hyunjin started to go red, she fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt and frowned, showing more expression on her face than Haseul had seen in a while.

“I- uh- when I say I’m worried about Heejin, what I mean is…” the cat-like woman trailed off, she took a deep breath and began again, “I’m worried I can’t satisfy her.”

That was not what Haseul was expecting to hear. She had mentally prepared herself for something about Heejin’s health, not her fucking sex life. No wonder Hyunjin was so nervous. Trying to be supportive, Haseul encouraged Hyunjin to explain herself. The nervous girl continued,

“Well, Heejin’s been dropping hint that she wants to take things to the next level, and I really really really want to as well, but I’m so nervous. I panic even when she touches my thigh! I just, I want to make her feel good, y’know, and I’m scared that I won’t know how to,” Hyunjin explained, she was talking so fast, Haseul thought all she needed was a sick beat. The shy woman dropped her eye line and her voice, “I love her, Haseul.”

The short woman’s heart melted. She remembered what it was like to be in love, to truly be head-over-heels in love. It was so sweet seeing that reflected in Hyunjin, a woman who Haseul wasn’t sure was entirely capable of love. It wasn’t Hyunjin’s fault she was so closed off. Haseul cast her mind back to articles she read when she was younger, and let herself consider her first time. 

“Hyunjin, I won’t lie to you. Your first time probably won’t be the best. It probably will be awkward and feel embarrassing. When Vivi and I had our first time, I was so nervous that I accidently bit her nipple and we had to stop part way through because Vivi got wrist cramp,” Haseul said, a little too casually. Hyunjin turned impossibly redder. 

“I’ll never look at Vivi unnie the same way again,” she muttered to herself. 

“Hyunjin, my lil’ aeongie, it’s okay to not get things right the first time. Heejin adores you, you’ll be fine. Just remember the three c’s and you’ll do great. Consent, communication and clitoris,” Haseul clapped the taller woman on her shoulder. Hyunjin laughed, although Haseul wasn’t sure if it was genuine or out of awkwardness. 

“Thanks, unnie. Heejin’s seemed really tired and stressed lately. She’s been out a lot, I guess she’s just been busy with university. I want to be the best girlfriend I can be. Whether that means sex or just being there for her, it doesn’t matter. I’ll do anything for Heejin,” Hyunjin sighed romantically. Seemingly pleased with Haseul’s answers, the cat-like woman wondered off with a little ‘aeong’. Haseul imagined it was to find Heejin. 

Still stressed out from setting up the party, and also life, Haseul poured herself a nice big glass of wine. It was time to join the party.

Having had a good boogie with Heejin, Hyunjin and some of their friends from school who Vivi was still good friends with, Haseul sat on the couch with a glass of wine and let herself be content with watching her friends have fun. Vivi was talking to some of her friends, though she kept on scanning the rest of the room. 

One of Vivi’s Chinese friends (Handong?) silently sat beside Haseul and regarded the party with clever eyes. She made small talk with Haseul, asking her about her the party and making polite conversation. Eventually, she looked at her watch and sighed. 

“Haseul-ssi, I believe you have something of mine,” she said mysteriously, “Don’t worry. I shan’t ask for it tonight, I’ll collect it in due time.”

Having said that, she stood up gracefully and glided over to where Heejin was having a hushed conversation with the incredibly tall demon girl, Tzuyu. The top of the woman’s head brushed against the ceiling. It was somehow both funny and slightly terrifying. Haseul didn’t even have time to process the mysterious woman’s words before Vivi came over, pulling a very confused looking Jiwoo along with her. The angel had grabbed Hyunjin’s hand and was tugging her along as well. Vivi grabbed Haseul’s hand and dragged her off the couch and into the kitchen. 

Once they were in the kitchen, Vivi pulled out a bottle of liquor and several shot glasses. 

“Let’s do shots,” she declared, already pouring the clear liquid into the glasses, “It’s my birthday.”

The other three women made confused eye contact and did as the birthday girl said. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Haseul asked Vivi tentatively, recognising that strange expression on her face. 

“Sooyoung didn’t show up. I can’t believe Sooyoung didn’t show up for my party,” she said quietly, the smile dropping from her face. Hyunjin, who had been in charge of sending invitations, immediately paled. Haseul gripped her arm before she could walk off. 

“Hyunjin, you and Heejin didn’t forget to invite Sooyoung, did you?” Haseul asked. The taller girl smiled awkwardly instead of replying. The short-haired woman put her hand to her head and groaned. Vivi only frowned. 

“Vivi unnie, I’m sorry but this doofus fucked up. I can text Sooyoung and get her to come?” Haseul offered apologetically. The Cantonese woman perked up immediately and got her phone out. 

“I’ll do it,” she said, much more cheerfully. “Celebration shots?”

Haseul and Jiwoo eyed each other uneasily, still unsure of the angel’s tolerance, but neither of them could say no to the birthday girl. Could anyone?

Almost immediately, Vivi’s phone pinged. 

“She’ll be half an hour. And Jinsoul and Choerry are coming too! Oh, I love those girls,” 

Content, Vivi wandered back into the living room, where the birthday bash was in full swing. 

When the doorbell rang, Haseul let Vivi answer it. It wasn’t Sooyoung, not yet. Instead it was two women, one with black hair and the other with dark brown hair. Haseul had seen them before, she was sure of it. And then she saw the one dark blue eye and the one purple eye. Of course, she had seen those girls before, she’d given one of them her number at the mall! She’d forgotten about that. 

The two unknown girls made their way into the house. When Hyunjin and the purple eyed girl looked at each other, they pointed at each other like the Spiderman meme. Beaming, the girl with one purple eye was dragged off to talk to Hyunjin. The black-haired woman spotted Haseul and headed in her direction with a lopsided grin. Awkwardly, the short-haired woman avoided eye contact and sipped on her wine nervously. The woman’s odd eye unnerved Haseul for a reason which she could not decipher. 

“Hey, you’re the girl from the mall,” the raven-haired woman sat down next to Haseul. “I’m sorry I never messaged you. Mind if I join? Choerry ditched me to go talk to a stranger.”

Even the way this woman spoke was strange. Her speech was slow and her intonation a little off, like she was considering every symbol of every word in her mouth before she spoke it. Although her presence was a little scary, especially with the whole leather on leather outfit, she seemed nice enough. Haseul nodded sharply and offered the woman a drink out of politeness. She shook her raven head and said she was driving. 

“I’m Jinsoul, by the way,” she reintroduced herself. Haseul looked at the woman and smiled in the most normal way she could before she introduced herself. It was odd, as she was close, Haseul could see that Jinsoul’s eye wasn’t entirely glowing. Her iris was a very dark blue, almost as dark as the enticingly deep brown of her other eye. There was a crescent moon shaped stripe of brilliant, illuminous blue that underlined her iris, giving it that iridescent, and rather creepy, blue glow. The bold blue stripe faded into a lighter blue as it merged with the dark blue of her iris. Jinsoul turned her head to look at the makeshift dance floor, effectively hiding her glowing eye from Haseul. 

“So, how do you know Vivi unnie?” Haseul asked, partially out of politeness but also out of genuine curiosity. The stranger grinned as her eyes focussed on their mutual friend dancing with Hyunjin and Choerry, who befriended the shy girl startlingly quickly. 

“We’re friends. Choerry and I met her and Sooyoung at a club once. We hit it off pretty quickly, even if they did think Choerry and I were a couple, which we aren’t by the way. And we’ve been good friends ever since,” Jinsoul revealed with a wonky smile. “You?”

“I met Vivi in high school. We were together for a while but we broke it off and now we live together,” Haseul almost squeaked. Jinsoul turned her head and raised her eyebrow. 

“Living with an ex? That’s a bold choice,” she commented wryly. 

“Yeah, well, it was weird at first but it’s fine now. I’m over it,” Haseul brushed it off. She hoped the ‘I’m over her’ was implied, even if it wasn’t entirely true. Haseul jumped a little when she felt a quite large hand settle on her knee. Jinsoul, now looking at Haseul, began to ask her questions about herself, what she studied, what music she liked, what food she liked. Haseul hated to admit it, but she preened herself on the attention. It was nice having a pretty girl flirt with her, she couldn’t help but flirt back a little. 

Eventually the conversation lulled a little and Jinsoul leant back again, her eyes focussed on the party (i.e. Vivi). 

“Do you think Vivi unnie and Sooyoung are dating?” the raven-haired beauty asked suddenly, “Sooyoung said they aren’t but I think there’s something going on there. You live with Vivi, what do you think?”

Haseul cleared her throat, “As far as I know they’re just close friends. I don’t know, I don’t think Vivi would lie to me about something like that.”

Jinsoul hummed in thought. 

“Do you think I have a shot with her?” she asked, an innocent tone to her voice.

“Who? Sooyoung?” Haseul scoffed, “I don’t think Sooyoung’s the commitment type.”

“Not Sooyoung!” the raven-haired woman exclaimed and threw her head back laughing, exposing her incredibly long neck. “Fuck no, I meant Vivi. Do you think I have a shot with Vivi?” Haseul stopped laughing. Jinsoul sighed, “I like her, she’s pretty and funny and, Jesus, her wild side is so sexy.”

“I guess,” Haseul stammered. She folded her legs, shifting Jinsoul’s hand off her knee and back onto the couch. “I- uh- I don’t know, dude. If like her then just go for, I guess. Maybe not tonight though. She’s drunk, you’re sober. Makes consent a bit dodgey.” 

Jinsoul nodded sagely, “Ah, yes. Consent. The most important of the three c’s.”

And on that note, the strange woman got up slowly and wandered away, joining her purple eyed friend in her half-conversation, half-dance party with Vivi and 2Jin. Haseul finally noticed Jiwoo peering at her from the kitchen with curious eyes. The short-haired woman rose to her feet and strode purposefully through the packed out living room and into the dimly lit kitchen where the angel resided. 

“So, are you going to tell me why you’re hiding in the kitchen?” Haseul asked the angel, who’s wings were stuffed into jacket, hiding them from the gaze of those who could see them. Jiwoo scrunched up her face and shook her head. Haseul took a large gulp of her wine. “Is it because of those two, the ones with the weird eyes?”

Jiwoo didn’t respond for a moment, but then nodded quickly. 

Frowning, Haseul turned to watch the two women who were dancing innocently with her ex-girlfriend to the latest hit song. 

“What are they? Demons?” Haseul whispered. Jiwoo’s eyebrows scrunched up. She grabbed the collar of Haseul’s shirt and pulled her close, close enough that Haseul could feel her breath on her cheek. 

“They’re not true demons, they’re odd eyes. I thought their kind had been destroyed. They are demonic in nature, but they are significantly more powerful than any other demon. They’re so powerful that they can hide all the other signs of their demonic nature with a glamour so powerful only fellow odd eyes can see through it. The only sure sign of their existence is their odd eye,” Jiwoo hissed. 

“Wow, sounds dangerous,” Haseul commented. 

“They are very dangerous, Haseul. They are capable of slaughtering angels. Angels! What if they’re here to kill me?” Jiwoo squeaked. Haseul could smell the alcohol on her breath. 

“Jiwoo, calm down. They’re here because they’re friends with Vivi. Your wings are hidden, they will never know you’re not human if you don’t give them a reason to suspect it,” Haseul hissed back at her. 

Through the hissed conversation with the fallen angel, Haseul didn’t hear the doorbell ring. She didn’t notice the cheers that rang out at the arrival of new person. She certainly didn’t notice the person stood in the doorway until they cleared their throat. Suddenly aware of the compromising position, with Jiwoo gripping her shirt, her back against the kitchen counter, their faces inches apart, Haseul pushed the angel away and cried loudly, 

“This isn’t what it looks like!” 

The short-haired woman made eye contact with Ha Sooyoung, who was watching with amusement lighting up her eyes. 

“Wow, Haseul look at you go,” she commented. And then Jiwoo turned around. Sooyoung faltered, her bravado slipping away. The smug look slid off her face. She looked frightened. Jiwoo had stiffened, her mouth fell open. Haseul could hear her heart racing.

“Yves?” Jiwoo breathed. She took a step towards the taller woman, who took a small step backwards, terror evident on her face. 

“Sooyoung,” she said coolly, clearly trying to muster back up her previous cool image. Jiwoo visibly deflated. 

“Uh, Sooyoung, this is Jiwoo,” Haseul introduced her friend incredibly awkwardly, hoping to diffuse some of the tension in the room. Sooyoung glanced back at Haseul and visibly relaxed, the tension ebbing from her body. 

“Jiwoo, huh?” she smirked. Wordlessly, she put down a plastic bag on the counter, pulled out a bottle of vodka and drank it straight from the bottle as she turned way and entered the living room. Jiwoo was shaking beside Haseul.

“Hey, Jiwoo, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?” Haseul asked, keeping her voice low and calming. The poor angel shook her head and cleared her throat. When she looked up she was smiling again.

“Nah, I’m good,” she said, a little unconvincingly, “Let’s dance.”

The doorbell rang, just loud enough for Haseul to hear. A little tipsy, the short haired woman made her way towards the door. The doorbell rang several more times before Haseul could reach it. Carelessly, Haseul pulled the door open. It was jarring seeing a pale girl of an undeterminable age stare at her with large, blinking eyes. Her uniquely shaped lips were parted a little in surprise. She was wearing an ill-fitted pair of jeans and an oversized t-shirt. They were both wrinkled and ragged, clearly second hand. It was almost as if she had seen a lost property bin and shoved on the first pair of clothes she could find. She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and cleared her throat. 

“Is Chuu here?” she asked in a breathy, high pitched voice. 

“Huh?” Haseul answered intelligently, “I’m sorry but who are you? Who is Chuu?”

The girl ignored Haseul and pushed past her, entering the house. With the alcohol in her body, Haseul’s balance was tragically non-existent. When the girl pushed past her, she was too concerned with staying upright to be able to stop her from barging in. 

“Chuu?” the girl shouted, although her shout was tiny and barely heard over the noise of the party. Haseul turned to follow the girl, but froze in her tracks. There were blood stains on the girl’s shirt. Two long vertical stripes of dark red marred the faded white fabric. Haseul felt that dry, metallic taste in her mouth. She thought she might vomit for a moment. 

Fortunately, Vivi’s voice brought her out of her stupor. 

“Haseul, do you know this girl?” she asked softly. The girl heard Vivi’s gentle voice and turned to face her, her expression blank. 

“Is Chuu here?” she asked.

“Do I know you? Why are you at my birthday party?” Vivi drunkenly slurred. 

“Oh,” the strange girl said softly, “Happy birthday,”

She turned and walked across the room calling out for ‘Chuu’. 

The drunk woman grabbed the collar of Haseul’s shirt and pointed at her face.

“You have some explaining to do, missy,” she warned. Haseul wished her ex wasn’t so sexy when she was angry. “But that is a problem for sober Vivi. Drunk Vivi is going to have fun.” Vivi sauntered off, leaving Haseul to follow the small blonde around. 

There was a loud crash, loud enough for everyone to stop what they were doing and stare at Sooyoung. The slender woman was stood frozen, her shoulders raised with tension. Her jaw was dropped in shock and her fearful eyes were trained on the blonde girl. Realizing the attention was on her, Sooyoung smiled charmingly and picked up the vodka bottle she had dropped (thankfully it had the lid on it). She made some shitty joke that Haseul didn’t hear properly thanks to the buzzing in her ears. Everyone turned away and returned to what they were doing. Haseul was aware of the noise around her, but the static buzzing didn’t stop. 

Haseul jumped into action when she saw the short blonde head towards Sooyoung, who looked more distressed than Haseul had ever seen her. Sensing that a bomb was about to explode in her very own living room, the short haired woman rushed towards the silent pair and grabbed both their wrists. She ignored their protests as she dragged the pair into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. 

“Haseul, what?” Jiwoo asked, who had conveniently been sat of Haseul’s bed taking a brief breather (probably to avoid Sooyoung). The angel stood to her feet, her posture awkward. She’d removed the jacket she was wearing previously; her withered wings were present for the world to see. Sooyoung frowned and stared at the angel’s battered wings, clearly trying to fight off tears. The blonde ran towards Jiwoo and embraced her with so much power than Jiwoo very nearly toppled backwards. 

“Gowonie?” Jiwoo asked in confusion. She rubbed her hands up and down the blonde’s back in confusion. “Gowonie?” she asked again, sounding like a frightened little girl. Jiwoo frowned, she lifted her hand off the girl’s back and stared at the red stain which coated her palm. That’s when the blonde girl collapsed into Jiwoo’s arms. 

Surprisingly, it was Sooyoung who acted first. She hoisted the passed out blonde out of Jiwoo’s arms and placed her carefully on Haseul’s bed, tilting her head to ensure that she was able to breathe.

“Haseul, scissors,” she commanded coldly. In a flap, the short-haired woman found her pencil case and rooted around for a pair of scissors. 

“They’re not supposed to bleed!” Jiwoo cried. When Haseul found her scissors, a tatty pair of left-handed scissors which she never used because she wasn’t left-handed, Sooyoung snatched them from her hand and started to cut open the passed-out girl’s shirt. She struggled with the scissors, trying to make them cut through the fabric. Once she made a small cut in the shirt, she grabbed the part she had cut and tore the t-shirt in two. 

Sooyoung revealed the two grisly wounds on the girl’s back. They were oozing with blood, pus and some kind of gold-silvery liquid. Feathers were laced into the skin around the wounds, some feathers even poked out of the wound itself. Out of one of the wounds, a piece of bone was stuck out. 

“Oh fuck I’m gonna throw up,” Haseul moaned, covering her mouth. 

“It’s your room, dude,” Sooyoung growled. She stared at the two wounds baffled. “They’re not supposed to look this. Mine don’t. Fuck. What did she do?” 

“We need to stop the bleeding and stop infections, right?” Jiwoo cried. Sooyoung stood motionless, staring at the wounds. “Yves? Yves? C’mon, say something!”

“Don’t call me by my angel name,” Sooyoung snarled. 

“We need to stop the bleeding and get out anything which might cause infection,” Haseul interrupted, remembering her first aid training which she did when she thought she wanted to be a nurse. Sooyoung and Jiwoo stared at Haseul blankly, “I’ll- uh- get a towel to stop the bleeding. You two pull the feathers out.”

Soon there was a blood-stained pile of feathers on Haseul’s bed. Jiwoo was pressing two towels onto each of the wounds on her back, tears streamed down her face, her wings quivered. 

Sooyoung stood in the corner, tears threatening to fall. Her expression was conflicted. 

“I don’t fucking understand,” Sooyoung finally exploded. “How the fuck did she fall? How the fuck did you fall, Chuu- I mean, Jiwoo? How did they fuck up her wings so badly?”

“Keep it down, someone might hear,” Haseul pleaded.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Jo Haseul,” Sooyoung spat. She began to pace up and down Haseul’s room, muttering to herself. Meanwhile, Haseul grabbed her bin and an old hoodie and began to use the clothing to scoop the bloody pile of feathers into her bin. As her hand brushed against one of the feathers, an image briefly took over Haseul’s mind. The static buzz in her ears become loud enough to drown out Sooyoung’s rambling and Jiwoo’s sobs. 

Haseul looked up into her mirror and saw, not her own reflection, but the pale, pretty face of the blonde girl staring back at her. Her uniquely shaped lips were pressed together and jaw was set in determination. She was holding a blade in one hand, the other had hold of one of her beautiful wings. There was another figure in the mirror, a girl with jet black hair and teary, dark eyes was running towards her, her grey wings with dark grey speckles spread out behind her. 

When Haseul blinked, she was staring back at her own reflection. The buzzing faded, bringing Haseul back to her senses.

“How could they be so cruel to not even rip them out properly?” Sooyoung was growling. The short-haired woman put her hand over her mouth. She could taste metal and bile. 

“She cut them off herself,” Haseul muttered. 

Silence engulfed the room. 

“She cut them off herself,” Haseul repeated, louder this time. 

The moments that passed seemed to go in slow motion. All Haseul could hear was static and the loud thumping of her own heart. Sooyoung dropped to her knees, her face completely blank. She sank to the floor and covered her face with hands, weeping into them. Meanwhile, Jiwoo stood to her feet, turned around and balled her fist up. She was motionless for a moment. Her face twisted and her fist collided with the wall. She didn’t even cry out in pain. She simply returned to pressing the towels against the passed-out girl’s back. 

“I can’t believe it,” Sooyoung finally gasped, dropping her hands onto her knees. She focussed on her hands, staring at them intensely. “I can’t believe she cut her own wings off just to get out of Eden. What if she did it for me?”

“I didn’t do it for you, dummy,” the girl breathed. Jiwoo pulled the towels away from the girl’s back. The bleeding had stopped. The wounds were already starting to heal over. Holding onto her head, the girl rolled over and, with Jiwoo’s assistance, sat up. “I did it for me.”

“Why? Gowonie, why? Didn’t Olivia Hye try to stop you?” Jiwoo cried. The pale girl smirked absently. 

“Of course, she did. She even threatened to tell everyone if I didn’t stop,” the girl, Gowon, said. Her voice was light and airy. Haseul almost had to strain to hear the poor girl. 

“How could you have done this to yourself?” Sooyoung scolded. The blonde shrugged, then winced as if in pain.

“I wanted to fall on my own terms. I didn’t want to have my own choices made for me. I didn’t want someone to decide that I wasn’t good enough for heaven, I didn’t want to wither until I could no longer support myself, I wanted to make my own choices,” the blonde declared. 

“That’s very brave of you,” Haseul commended the small girl, feeling she needed some praise when the people she cared about were condemning her. 

Sooyoung stood, her face emotionless. 

“You know what, I think you’re stupid,” the fallen angel spat, “What possessed you to think that leaving heaven was a good idea? You’re a good angel, you belong in heaven.”

“Clearly, I don’t want to be there, Yves,” the blonde said drily. 

“My name is Sooyoung,” the relatively tall woman growled. “And you’re a fucking idiot.”

“Sooyoung, don’t talk to her like that!” Jiwoo cried. The slender woman turned to Jiwoo and regarded her withered wings with disgust.

“And you, Jiwoo. You let your wings wither away until they couldn’t support you. How pathetic,” she snarled. Jiwoo stood defensively. 

“I didn’t let them wither away. Have you not heard the stories of angels who were in love? Their wings withered as a sign of their humanity. Romance has no place in the heavens, remember?” Jiwoo said, her voice low and full of anguish. “I fell because I was in love with you. I still am.”

Sooyoung remained silent. Her eyes dropped to the ground. 

“Olivia offered to let me return to heaven. I refused. Wanna know why? Because I didn’t want to return to a place where I would not be allowed to love who I want,” 

“You’re stupid,” Sooyoung said, her voice low. Jiwoo cocked her eyebrow. 

“Am I? Am I stupid for loving you? It’s only stupid if you don’t love me back. I know you love me. Am I wrong? Am I?” Jiwoo was close to shouting. Haseul shifted uncomfortably. She wished she was anywhere but here. Thankfully, she could still hear the party in full swing. At least no one had tried to interrupt whatever the fuck was going on here.

“How could you possibly love me?” Sooyoung exploded, “How? You’re a fucking angel and I’m forsaken. I’m a bad person, Jiwoo. I go to clubs, I get pissed, I fuck random women, I swear, I question God’s authority. You, Jiwoo, you’re the purest fucking angel I’ve ever known. You don’t love me, you shouldn’t love me.”

“I don’t care whether I should or shouldn’t love you!” Jiwoo exclaimed, “I love you so much I became too human to remain in heaven. Surely that must mean something? Sooyoung, please…”

The winged angel reached out to touch the wingless, but Sooyoung quickly pulled her wrist away. 

“Don’t touch me,” Sooyoung hissed, “Don’t you care about me, don’t even think about me. Maybe you two can repent but it’s too late for me. Go back to heaven. You don’t deserve to live a miserable life on Earth.”

“No,” Jiwoo said defiantly. 

“Fine. Do whatever the fuck you want. Just stay away from me. I mean that,” Sooyoung commanded, her voice low and powerful. The slender woman stalked out of the room, slamming the door on her way out. 

Jiwoo perched on the end of Haseul’s bed and stared into space. 

“Well that was fun,” said Haseul.

Jiwoo emotionlessly helped Gowon, who Haseul and Jiwoo decided to give the human name ‘Chaewon’, into some fresh clothes. Thankfully she and Haseul were a similar size, so they just stuck her in a pair of old jeans and a hoodie. She looked kind of cute with her sweater paws, Haseul just wanted to pat her head and squeeze her cheeks. 

“So, do either of you want to talk about what just happened?” Haseul asked tentatively. 

“Not really,” Jiwoo grumbled. 

“Who even are you?” Chaewon responded. Haseul sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead. 

“I’m Haseul, I watched Jiwoo fall from heaven. I don’t know how I can see all your heavenly shit so don’t even bother asking,” the short-haired woman replied. 

“Like I care enough to ask,” the blonde retorted. 

“Can she stay here?” Jiwoo asked, giving Haseul the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. 

Haseul sighed, “Jiwoo, there isn’t even enough space for you, never mind Chaewon. I’ll see if Heejin and Hyunjin can house her for the night while we figure something out.”

The other two girls agreed to Haseul’s decision, after a little bit of convincing. 

Haseul re-entered the party, only to find that it had died down significantly. The music was still blaring loudly, loud enough to block out the shouting match which had just taken place. Vivi was clinging onto Sooyoung as she waved goodbye to some of her friends. Others were helping tidy up and packing up their own things. Haseul quickly cornered Heejin and Hyunjin and guilted them into looking after Chaewon for the night, promising to explain in the morning. 

More and more of their guests left, including 2Jin and their new roommate for the night. Eventually it was just Haseul and Jiwoo, and Vivi and Sooyoung. The two pairs looked at each other awkwardly. Vivi swayed in her spot. 

“I’m gonna take this one to bed, make sure she doesn’t die,” Sooyoung chuckled awkwardly. 

Jiwoo muttered something under her breath. 

The taller woman dragged a very drunk Vivi into her bedroom. The door slammed behind them. Haseul caught sight of Vivi giggling into the other woman’s arms and felt a pang in her heart. 

Jiwoo turned to Haseul and glanced up at her sadly. 

“Can we go to your room for a bit? I don’t want to be alone,” she mumbled. Haseul nodded as she guided the angel to her own room. Jiwoo collapsed onto the slightly bloody bed. “So how do humans deal with sorrow?”

Haseul smiled, “Well, in my experience you either cry yourself to sleep or drink away your sorrows. Or you could do the healthy thing and talk about it?”

“Drinking sounds fun, let’s do that,” Jiwoo said brightly. Haseul didn’t know why she agreed to it, but she did. 

A bottle of wine later, Jiwoo and Haseul had changed into their pajamas and were cuddled up in bed, drunkenly chatting to each other. Jiwoo put her hand on the older woman’s shoulder and slurred,

“Haseul, you are the greatest human, actually no, the greatest person I have ever met. I’m so glad you were there when I fell. Otherwise I’d be a depressed mess right now.”

“What, like me?” Haseul joked. 

“No,” Jiwoo cried, “Don’t be sad. You’re amazing, Haseul! You’re so pretty and talented and kind.”

“I’m not though,” Haseul deflected the compliment. Jiwoo frowned adorably. 

“I won’t have this negativity. You are the best, Haseul. And anyone who doesn’t see that is a dumb dumb,” she announced defiantly. Haseul snickered. 

“Maybe you should tell that my ex,” Haseul said wryly, “It’s not me who’s in her bed right now, is it?”

“Stop putting yourself down!” Jiwoo cried, “How can you not see how amazing you are? You’re so beautiful too! Fuck, you’re so gorgeous, Haseul.”

The sincerity shocked the older woman, even in her drunken haze. She glanced over and stared at Jiwoo’s face. She was deadly serious. 

“You really mean it?” Haseul whispered breathlessly. Jiwoo nodded. “You’re pretty cute yourself.”

A red tinge coated Jiwoo’s already flushed cheeks. Yeah, she was cute. With those sincere doe eyes and adorable cheeks that were coated in a very fine dust of freckles that were only noticeable if you were very close, just like she was close right now. And her thin lips did look very soft, her smile was so cute, her gummy grin was so…

And then they were kissing.

Haseul wasn’t sure when it happened or how it happened, but one moment she was staring at Jiwoo’s face and the next she was suddenly aware that her lips were moving softly against the angel’s. She wasn’t even sure who kissed who first. Haseul pulled back slightly.

“Wait,” she whispered. 

“Haseul, please,” Jiwoo whined. 

This time Haseul was sure that she kissed Jiwoo first. For someone who claimed to have never kissed someone before, the fallen angel was a very good kisser. Her fingers become entwined with Haseul’s hair as the kiss became less innocent and more heated. Mouths parted and tongues touched. It was sloppy and messy, nothing like Haseul’s last kisses with Vivi, or even Sooyoung. Both were calculated and thought out. This was raw and passionate and, put simply, messy. 

Jiwoo rolled back and pulled Haseul on top of her. The short haired woman instinctively let her knee fall between the angel’s legs. Jiwoo whimpered quietly into the kiss. Hands were everywhere. Haseul’s skin burned. The angel’s hips bucked up against Haseul’s leg and she let out a loud, desperate whine. 

Haseul pulled out of the kiss, she glanced down at Jiwoo and took in her bruised lips, her half-lidded eyes, her messed up hair. She blinked, and suddenly, the illusion was shattered. What the fuck was she doing? The short haired woman sat back and shook her head.

“No, Jiwoo, I can’t, this is all wrong,” she whimpered. Jiwoo frowned and sat up, desperately taking Haseul into her arms. 

“Please, Haseul, please,” she whined, “I need you.”

Haseul shook her head, “Not like this. You don’t need me like this.”

Jiwoo began to cry and shake her head. 

“Please, Haseul, I want you, please,” she pleaded. With alcohol running through her veins, it would have been so easy to give in, but Haseul stood her ground. 

“Jiwoo, I’m sorry. It’s not right, I can’t do this to you,” she said breathlessly. 

Jiwoo broke down in sobs, she collapsed onto Haseul’s chest, weeping loudly. The older woman stroked the poor angel’s hair and held her softly against her. She cooed at the poor angel, encouraging her to let it all out. 

Haseul lay down the angel and rolled off her. Jiwoo, like a clingy koala, grasped onto Haseul and sobbed into her collar bone. All Haseul could do was stroke the poor angel’s hair comfortingly until she fell asleep, tears still dripping down her cheek. 

Sleep didn’t come naturally to Haseul, not with a million thoughts swimming through her head. Sleep did come eventually, and she let the darkness consume her without question. Part of her hoped the morning would never come. But it did. The morning always came. And it always would.


	15. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably put in a little content warning for this chapter as there is some violence and horror aspects. I tried to make up for it though with a humorous scene towards the end of the chapter.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy. As always, feel free to comment and I'll try to reply. I'm thinking of doing a chapter from a different character's point of view. Let me know if you have any thoughts/objections to that.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos, stay home and take quarantine seriously.

Haseul’s eyes burst open and she sat up rapidly. She put her hand to her head and groaned. However, the pain she expected to be lurking behind her eyes was not there. Had she miraculously avoided the hangover? And what about Jiwoo? A sudden memory hit her harder than a tonne of bricks. Jiwoo’s lips on hers. Fuck, what had she done?

The short-haired woman turned to glance at the angel. She was sleeping, seemingly peacefully, curled up into Haseul’s chest. 

Wait.

If Haseul’s body was still sleeping then…

The short woman glanced wildly around the room, expecting to see a red-haired (or possibly blonde) woman stood in the corner. Her eyes fixated on a short looking woman who was lounging carelessly on Haseul’s desk. She smirked when she noticed Haseul staring at her.

“I’m not sure that this is the best time,” Haseul said cautiously. The strange woman glanced between Haseul’s dream body and her physical body. She wiggled her eyebrows. 

“Spicy,” she teased. 

“That is not what it looks like,” Haseul gestured to her physical body who was cuddling with another woman. “We’re just friends.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” she laughed as she pushed herself off Haseul’s desk, “I’m Sua, by the way. Another ‘friend’ of yours would like to see you.”

Haseul subconsciously smiled at the thought of seeing her again. She clambered off the bed, approached the ever so slightly taller woman and grabbed her hand. She was surprised when the pair remained in Haseul’s room.

“You’re a friendly one, aren’t you,” Sua laughed, tossing her dark locks over her shoulder. 

Haseul quickly retracted her hand from the other woman’s and pushed back her hair nervously.

“I- uh, last time… Jiu, uh,” Haseul stammered. The woman in front of her smirked and raised an eyebrow, seemingly enjoying Haseul’s awkwardness. Before long she put her out of her misery and burst out laughing. 

“Jiu’s special, she was born in the dream realm. I wasn’t born in the dream realm so I can’t do all that teleportation shit between realms. The dream realm though, I can teleport everywhere, its fucking great. But alas, we have to take a different route,” the woman announced once she had stopped laughing. 

“Wait, are you human? Were you born on Earth, like me?” Haseul questioned as the slightly taller woman lead her out of her room, leaving her physical form behind. They didn’t even bother opening the door, they simply stepped through the walls. 

“Not quite, sweetheart,” Sua chuckled, “Born on Earth, yes. Human, debatable.”

“Then how did you end up in the dream realm?”

“The dream realm always takes what’s theirs,” the woman said darkly as she stopped outside the door to Vivi’s room. Haseul frowned at door before her. Before she could protest, the short woman felt a hand press against her back and push her harshly. Haseul passed through the door and landed in Vivi’s room. She closed her eyes quickly.

Now, Vivi was a very private person. Despite dating her for on and off for several years, Haseul knew very little about her childhood and was very rarely allowed inside of Vivi’s room. As far as Haseul knew, Vivi didn’t really have any personal, sentimental items other than ones given to her by Haseul herself (or 2Jin of course). Either that, or she hid them from Haseul.

Hesitantly, afraid of what she would see on Vivi’s bed, Haseul opened her eyes. It seemed like it was the latter, there were some personal items strewn about Vivi’s room. Haseul couldn’t help but let out a sigh of release when she saw Sooyoung lying on the floor with only a pillow and an old, knitted pink blanket for warmth. She had to admit that she felt pretty smug knowing that she and Vivi had shagged on and under that blanket many times in the past. Vivi was sprawled out cutely on her bed. She looked peaceful. That made Haseul happy. 

Around the room were several unfinished paintings. Most were landscapes, cities and fields. There were some abstract drawings of people. None were defined enough to be able to discern who the portrait was of. There were some pictures strewn about the room. Some were old pictures of Vivi and Haseul when they were together, some were newer ones. Some of them featured Sooyoung and the glowing eyes of the two odd eye girls. There was one which Haseul had never seen before, a picture of a young girl with black hair wearing a traditional style, flowing blue dress. A man with black hair tinged with grey in an impeccable suit was stood right next to the girl. His face was rigid, his eyes unkind. There was another man in the photo, a couple of steps away from the man and his, presumably, daughter. He was smiling with eyes half closed. He was also wearing a suit, but his tie was scruffy, his top button undone. There were blobs of colour marring his hands and sleeves. 

Haseul had never seen a picture of Vivi as a child, or seen any of her parents’ photos. She couldn’t help but feel entranced as she stared at the picture. The other woman in the room cleared her throat. Blushing, Haseul tore her gaze away from the photo and looked back at Sua. The woman grinned wolfishly and gestured to a painted picture of an ornate doorway. 

“Aren’t you going to open the door?” the dark-haired woman asked. 

Had Haseul not just spent significant time that night with a bunch of fallen angels, had she not started seeing monsters and demons, had she not been transported to the dream realm once before, Haseul would have scoffed and rolled her eyes. How could she open the door of a painting? 

However, Haseul was learning that the day to day life and the rules she once knew weren’t to be trusted. Still, that didn’t stop her shock and horror when Haseul reached out and, instead of touching a flat 2D doorknob, wrapped her hand around the solid wood. Cautiously, she twisted the doorknob and pulled gently. The painted door swung out of the canvas, revealing the black space beneath it. 

“Congratulations, you just found a portal to the dream realm,” Sue said wryly with a smirk. Haseul stared at it in silent disbelief. “Aren’t you going to enter it?”

The shorter woman only scowled and stared at the black space in the canvas, the painted door swinging on its painted hinged. How the fuck was she supposed to fit in that small hole?

The strange woman came up behind Haseul and gently grabbed her wrist. She guided Haseul’s hand towards the black space and then inside of it. It felt strange, it was like her hand was missing. Then she felt a strange sensation. It was like something was wrapping around her hand. Her arm was tugged into the void, then her body lurched forwards. 

One minute Haseul was stood in Vivi’s bedroom, the next she was in the same ballroom she had previously been in. She had landed on the floor, face first. Slowly, she rolled over and sat up, taking in the appearance of the tall woman who was looking down at her with furrowed eyebrows. Her hair was not quite silver, not quite brown, not quite blonde, a strange mix of the three. Her features were slim and delicate, her eyes haunted. 

She held out a slender hand, her concerned expression unwavering. When Haseul put her relatively small hand in hers, the woman pulled Haseul to her feet. She quickly let go of her hand and wiped in on her white jacket. 

Haseul blinked, and then Sua was stood next to the tall woman.

“Yooyheonnie! I had perfect control of the situation,” she whined. 

“Sorry, unnie,” the tall woman responded quietly. 

“I hope this doesn’t constitute as two favours,” a new voice said teasingly. Haseul glanced over and immediately grinned. The owner of the voice was dressed in a white suit, her hair was slicked back in a ponytail and she completed the look with a lazy smirk. “Hey, Haseul,” Jungeun greeted. 

The tall woman nodded her head in greeting, “No, this was Sua’s favour to you, not mine. I am still in debt to you,” she spoke gently, keeping her voice low. She raised her hand to her chest and lowered her head. The frown etched into her face deepened. The woman turned on her heel and strode out of the ballroom, her body faded into nothingness. 

“What happened to Yoohyeon? She was always so cheerful and loud,” Jungeun asked the very concerned looking woman next to her. Sua shrugged. 

“We don’t know. We’re working on it,” Sua said mysteriously. She then turned to Haseul, “I shall return to you when it’s your time to leave.”

The fairly short woman strode away purposefully, leaving Haseul alone with Jungeun. The brunette smiled shyly at Haseul but the sweet expression was soon replaced by surprise when Haseul threw her arms around Jungeun’s neck, pulling her in for a hug. The short haired woman tucked her head into the other woman’s neck, attempting to inhale her comforting scent. Except Haseul could smell nothing. And Jungeun’s skin felt cold and rough.

The short haired woman pulled away from Jungeun but kept her hands on her clothed collarbones, her fingers dancing over the collar and shoulders of the shirt Jungeun wore. 

“I had a really weird day today,” Haseul breathed, “I’ve missed you.”

Jungeun smiled shyly once more, “I missed you too, Haseul. It’s been too long.”

There was a comfortable silence in the dream realm’s ballroom as the pair took in each other’s appearances. Haseul was very aware that she was in her pajamas, even in the dream realm.

“It seems like going through the portal didn’t change my clothes like last time,” Haseul commented, glancing down at the mismatched clothes. The shirt was mustard yellow with a dog on it and the shorts were pink with white bunnies. 

“You look adorable,” the brunette implored. “So, do you want to tell me about your weird day?”

Haseul shrugged, “It’s a bit crazy. I don’t think you’ll believe me.”

“Haseul, we’re having a conversation in the dream realm, of all places. I’ll believe whatever you tell me, trust me,” Jungeun smiled encouragingly. 

Still holding on to her shirt, Haseul told Jungeun about parts of the night. She explained how Jiwoo was a fallen angel and how she was in love with her roommate’s friend, another fallen angel. She described the moment when another angel arrived at her door and the massive argument that followed it. She certainly didn’t mention that Jiwoo had kissed her that night, and that she had kissed Jiwoo back. There was something about the lovesick glint in Jungeun’s eye that made her feel insanely guilty about what happened between her and the fallen angel. Even if it did mean nothing, even if it happened out of drunken loneliness, it happened. And seeing Jungeun smile at her like that made Haseul wish that it didn’t. 

Haseul finished her story. Jungeun nodded in thought. 

“So, your new roommate is a fallen angel. Must be exciting. Has she managed to adapt to the modern world?” Jungeun asked sincerely. 

Of all the questions she could have asked, Haseul wondered why she asked that one. It was odd, but there was a normalcy to it that was comforting. 

“Good, I think. And I don’t know if she’s really a roommate, she doesn’t pay rent or anything,” Haseul mused. 

“Well, I suppose it would be rude to make a fallen angel with no job pay rent, right?” Jungeun began to grin mischievously. 

“I suppose so,” Haseul matched her grin with one of her own, “So then, missus, got any cryptic warnings for me?”

The smile slipped off Jungeun’s face, a sombre expression replacing it. Her throat bobbed.

“Actually, yes,” the taller woman said, nervousness decorated her voice. Haseul let go of Jungeun’s shirt and folded her arms. “Be wary of the odd eyes. Not all mean harm, but some do.”

“Right, beware of the odd eyes, got it,” Haseul said, her voice flat. “And JYP?”

“I still don’t know what their game is. From what I’ve heard, I believe their affiliation is not with hell, yet this doesn’t mean they can be trusted. Keep an eye on your friend, she may need you,” Jungeun said warily, her voice kept low. 

“And yourself?” Haseul asked drily, “What about your secret?”

Jungeun looked into Haseul’s eyes. They were full of sadness and anguish.

“I’m afraid to tell you,” she admitted in a whispered voice. 

“Surely it’s not that bad? I helped an angel who ripped out her own wings. I’ve been attacked by demons. I’ve seen heaven. I think I can handle it, Jungeun,” Haseul said softly, her hand coming to rest on the other woman’s arm. Jungeun frowned. 

“Haseul, please try not to see me in a different light. I know we don’t really know each other very well, but I feel connected to you. When I’m around you, I feel the need to protect you. I don’t want to see you hurt, and I’m afraid the truth may hurt you,” Jungeun said. She took a deep breath, “But I can see that keeping the truth from you will also hurt you. So, I must be honest. Haseul, I’m-”

Her confession was cut off by a distant scream.

Both woman turned their heads towards the direction which the scream came from. Almost instinctively, Haseul pressed herself into Jungeun’s cold, solid body. She felt a heavy hand rest on her back protectively. 

A figure appeared in the middle of the room. She strode towards Haseul and Jungeun purposefully, her dress flapped behind her. Her blonde hair spread out behind her as she walked towards them. She held a sword in her hand, the blade directed towards the ground. A bloody trail followed the woman for the sword was coated in red liquid. Haseul pressed herself closer to Jungeun.

As the woman got closer, Haseul began to recognise the features. Before, her face was neutral and passive, now it was set with determination and anger. 

“You two need to leave, it’s not safe here anymore,” Jiu told the pair. 

“What’s happening? Let me help?” Jungeun cried. Jiu scoffed.

“You have no power without your body, Kim Lip. Besides, do we not owe you enough already?” the blonde raised her eyebrow, her voice was devoid of emotion. Jungeun wasn’t given the chance to reply. “I will take Haseul home, don’t worry about her. Say your goodbyes, lovers, you are no longer safe here. And soon you will no longer be welcome.”

Still clinging to Jungeun, Haseul looked up into her eyes. 

“Will I see you again?”

“Yule,” Jungeun said firmly, “Please wait for me, Haseul. I’ll explain everything to you when I next see you.”

There was another scream, closer this time. Jiu frowned, her knuckles turned white. 

“Go, Kim Lip. Leave now,” she commanded. 

Jungeun quickly leant down and kissed Haseul’s lips. Their lips had barely touched by the time Jungeun pulled away and turned around. She took two quick her steps and her body began to fade away.

The blonde woman extended her hand to Haseul. 

“Quickly, Haseul,” 

“Wait, what the fuck is going on?” Haseul exclaimed. Jiu’s face twisted with desperation, she wiggled her outstretched fingers. 

The ballroom doors bust open, the same ones that Jungeun had entered through the first time Haseul was taken to the dream realm. It wasn’t Jungeun who walked through the doors. It was a different woman, one who Haseul had seen earlier, the tall, slender one. Her hair seemed darker, her skin was deathly pale. The growing patch of red on her side stood out against the white of her suit. Her eyes were completely black.

With no more hesitation, Haseul slapped her hand down onto Jiu’s outstretched one.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in her bedroom. Jiu was stood in front of her. 

“Stay safe, child of heaven,” Jiu nodded. 

“Wait, what?” 

The blonde woman disappeared into thin air. 

Haseul expected to wake up, but she didn’t. Unnerved, Haseul slowly turned around to face her bed. Perched on the end of her bed was the woman with silver hair, a bleeding side and completely black eyes. The grin on her face was inhumanely wide. The teeth grew more pointed the longer Haseul looked at them. 

The short-haired woman peered past the unnerving woman on her bed, and saw herself still asleep on her bed. Her physical body was sweating, but other than that she seemed peaceful. Jiwoo lay peacefully beside her, completely oblivious.

The silver haired woman stood and approached Haseul. The short woman willed herself to wake up as the other woman’s creepy smile loomed closer and closer. She stopped directly in front of Haseul. A vice-like grip around Haseul’s grip made her knees give out. But the woman gripping hold of her didn’t allow her to fall to her knees. The blackness of the woman’s eyes completely consumed her entire eye. There wasn’t a shred of white or colour in those eyeballs. 

The grip on her neck slowly tightened. Haseul gasped for what limited air she could find. She choked and spluttered, her legs dangled in the air. She could see her physical body arch against the bed, clearly coughing and spluttering. 

Desperate to save her own life, Haseul grabbed the hands around her neck and attempted to pry them away. The grip only tightened. Haseul pried at the hands with all the diminishing strength she could muster. She could see her physical body begin to struggle less and less. 

“Fuck you,” Haseul hissed at the deranged woman.

With darkening vision, Haseul continued to thrash around and pry at the vice-like grip that constricted her neck. The grip suddenly began to loosen. The woman’s jet black eyes widened as her thumbs were pushed backwards towards her wrist. A loud, sickening pop resounded throughout the room.

Haseul fell to the ground with a thud as the woman let out a demonic screech. 

When the short woman looked up, the woman was looking down at her with a horrified expression. Her eyes were normal again. Her side was still bleeding, her thumbs were sitting at a horrifying angle, but her brown, normal eyes were focussed on Haseul. 

She began to speak, her voice was shaking, “Oh no, I am so so sor-” 

And then Haseul woke up. 

Haseul woke up gasping for air. Instinctively, she sat up and held onto her own neck, sucking in as much oxygen as she could. And then the hangover hit her like a ton of bricks. 

A hand across her mouth, Haseul staggered out of her bedroom and into the bathroom.

She barely made the toilet in time before she began to retch and heave, throwing up until nothing more could come out. 

When she felt a cold hand stroke her cheek as her hair was pulled out of her face, Haseul had to seriously suppress the urge not to lash out and sucker-punch the newcomer. However, a familiar scent entered her nostrils and she felt a hand begin to rub circles on her back.

“There, there, let it all out,” Haseul heard the familiar voice of Vivi, “And do it quickly because I need to do the same thing.”

“I’ll hold your hair back if you hold back mine?” Haseul lifted her head and croaked. Her voice was raspy and low, barely louder than a whisper. It was painful. Her whole head and neck ached. 

“Jesus, Haseul, what happened to you?” Vivi asked, clearly full of concern.

Haseul shook her head and stood up. She flushed the toilet and began to wash her hands and mouth.

“It wasn’t Jiwoo, was it?” 

“Of course not,” Haseul rasped. She looked up and saw how her neck was purple and bruised. Scratches caused by her own nails lined the front of her throat. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were bloodshot. She glanced at her hands and saw the blood under her nails. She scrubbed her hands vigorously. “No, Jiwoo could never do this.”

“Then, who? Did someone break in? Was it that blonde girl?” the panic was evident in Vivi’s voice. 

“No and no. That girl is with Heejin and Hyunjin and nobody broke in,” Haseul’s voice sounded worse and worse the more she spoke. Vivi’s eyes were blown wide. “I guess I must have slept funny.”

Haseul must have been hit with a stroke of luck because at that moment, Vivi shoved Haseul out of the bathroom and shut the door. The short haired woman could hear throwing up sounds in the bathroom.

“Hey, is Jiwoo alright?” Sooyoung asked sheepishly, lurking in the hallway. She was wearing the same clothes as the night before, her hair pulled back in a lazy ponytail. 

“I thought you’d be more concerned about Vivi, she’s throwing up,” Haseul said, her voice barely a whisper. 

Her eyes widened in horror when they fell upon Haseul. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”

“Dream realm,” Haseul husked, her voice even weaker than it was moments ago. 

“You went to the dream realm?” Sooyoung hissed, keeping her voice low so the girl throwing up in the bathroom wouldn’t hear, “Are you insane? Haven’t you heard about the shit that’s going down there?”

“No,” the short woman grunted and gestured to her neck.

“Well, I’ve heard rumours that hell’s corruption has leaked into the dream realm. Apparently, it offers another route from hell to Earth which demons have been taking advantage of,” Sooyoung growled. Haseul shrugged. She really didn’t want this conversation. She just wanted to take some painkillers and try to forget about this whole ordeal. “Seriously, Haseul, what the fuck were you doing in the dream realm?”

“Fuck you, that’s what,” Haseul rasped as she pushed past. Sooyoung turned and watched Haseul walk away. A sudden thought struck her mind. What if this was her fault?

A painkiller was forced down Haseul’s throat by Jiwoo, along with plenty of water. Swallowing was painful. Everything was painful. 

The fallen angel had awoken while Haseul was in the bathroom. Her skin was wet with sweat. Every time she looked at Haseul her cheeks turned red. 

The sweet angel tried to be cheerful, “I’m never drinking again,” she claimed cheerfully, “I believe the fire in my blood literally burned away the alcohol and I lowkey feel like I’m burning to death from the inside out but I had some water and I feel less burney so it’s all good,” she babbled, probably trying to distract Haseul.

There was silence in the room and Haseul rubbed the bruises on her neck with a wince.

Jiwoo turned suddenly serious. 

“Haseul-unnie, do you want to talk about what happened last night? When I- y’know and we kinda kissed?” the angel questioned. Haseul rolled her eyes. She had forgotten about that, she was much more focussed on the damn strangling. 

“Shit happens, Jiwoo. Do want to do it again?” Haseul croaked, her voice sounded a little less shit. 

“No, not with you,” Jiwoo squeaked. 

“Then just forget about it,” Haseul rasped. There was pause, “Sooyoung?” the short woman asked tentatively.

“Sooyoung? What about her?” Jiwoo asked. Haseul’s eyes flicked to her bedroom door. Jiwoo caught the suggestion and shook her head. “She clearly wants nothing to do with me. I’ve spent so long dreaming about the life I could spend with her but I’ve woken up now. I’ve wasted my time pining after her. I’m glad I’m not in heaven, I’m glad I can choose to love. I thought she was the right choice, but I’m not so sure now.”

“I think she still likes you, but she’s afraid,” Haseul growled wisely. Jiwoo shrugged dejectedly, her wings drooping. “You could have chosen a better metaphor than dreams,” the short haired woman said teasingly, her growling voice contrasting her light tone. Jiwoo beamed her warming smile.

“Sorry, unnie,” the angel said softly. Haseul only shrugged in response as she rubbed at her neck. 

Haseul’s phone buzzed. Her head still pounding, the short haired woman passed the device over to Jiwoo, indicating for her to read the message out to her. 

“Hyunjin said that she is bringing Chaewon back round. Apparently, she and Heejin tried to make breakfast and nearly set the house on fire and Hyunjin only needs one human disaster in the house, not two,” Jiwoo read dutifully. She paused and laughed, “Well, she doesn’t even have one.”

Haseul glanced at the angel and growled, “Are you ever going to tell me what you mean when you say shit like that?”

Jiwoo smiled innocently, “I’m not sure I can, unnie. Not even if I wanted to. There are things which are forbidden. Words which are unspeakable.”

Haseul huffed through her nose. 

“Whatever. Can you go get me some ice, please?” the short-haired woman asked, her voice remained husky. Jiwoo nodded simply.

Having iced her neck and put on a turtleneck jumper, Haseul finally left her room once Heejin and Hyunjin arrived with Chaewon.

When the girls saw Haseul leave her room wearing a turtleneck, with Jiwoo emerging from Haseul’s room close behind her, their eyes popped out of their heads. 

“Unnie? Did you two…?” Heejin trailed off. Haseul glanced between herself and the angel.

“Let’s not talk about that,” she replied. Her voice sounded more normal, but it was still uncomfortable to speak, and very uncomfortable to swallow. Haseul took in half-ragged appearance of Heejin and Hyunjin. Both looked tired, both paler than usual. And they were wearing matching cream turtlenecks. “I never pegged you two as a couple that would wearing matching clothes.”

Hyunjin replied smarmily, “Yeah well, Heejin recently threw out her only turtleneck so she had to borrow one of mine.”

“I see you took my advice, Kim Hyunjin. Good for you,” Haseul smirked. Heejin frowned and narrowed her eyes at the cat-like girl, who turned fire-engine red. 

“What’s wrong with your voice, unnie? Were you screaming too much last night? Funny, I didn’t know you were a bottom,” Hyunjin fired back, the fires of mischief lighting up her eyes. Haseul pouted. 

“I’m not a bottom,” Haseul protested childishly.

“You are too!”

“You’re the bottom, you big bottom.”

“Hey, leave my girlfriend alone. Hyunjin’s not a bottom,” Heejin attempted to mediate between the bickering friends. Hyunjin grinned triumphantly and mouthed ‘bottom’ at Haseul.

“What’s a bottom?” Chaewon spoke up finally in her distinctive baby voice. Haseul’s eyes widened in panic. Hyunjin opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Haseul.

“A stupid person! We call people who are being stupid bottoms,” Haseul cried. The blonde angel narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but nodded. Jiwoo looked more confused than ever before. 

Soon Vivi left her room, closely followed by Sooyoung, who’s face was expressionless and cool but body was stiff. The pair greeted the small gathering as Vivi let them know that Sooyoung was on her way out. 

“Hey, Vivi, is Haseul a bottom?” Hyunjin asked the older girl mischievously. Haseul glared at the smug looking woman. Vivi looked a little confused for a moment, and Haseul thought she might refuse to answer. Vivi then snorted.

“Is the sky blue?” the Cantonese woman responded slyly. The short-haired woman protested but it was too late. She could only fold her arms in defeat. 

“Sooyoung, I think you’re a bottom,” Chaewon announced, folding her arms accusingly. The taller woman gasped dramatically.

“I have never been more offended in my life,” she deadpanned and stormed out of the apartment, Vivi hot on her tails. 

The room fell into silence. The little blonde was silently fuming while Jiwoo put her hand on her arm comfortingly, sadness evident on her face. 

“And that’s our cue to leave, bye,” Hyunjin practically ran out of the apartment. 

Heejin smiled awkwardly. 

“I think we’re due a talk, unnie,” she said softly, “I’m pretty busy right now, with everything going on. I’ll message you when I’m free?”

“You know I basically never leave the house,” Haseul droned. “Just come over whenever you want.”

The black-haired girl nodded stiffly. She politely said goodbye to the two angels and disappeared from the room. 

Haseul turned to the pair of silently seething angels and sighed. 

“Looks like I’m buying a new sofa bed,” she growled. 

Grinning cheekily, Jiwoo and Chaewon high fived.


	16. Chapter 13

A girl sat with her legs dangling over the roof of the church. She wiggled her legs, feeling the air glide over her bare feet and dart between her toes. The girl sighed and leant her head on the statue next to her. 

“Kim Lip, I’m bored,” the girl told the statue, “No one ever visits me. It’s shit.”

She looked up at the statue and imagined its response. She always imagined that the grotesque was a woman with a fairly deep voice. She liked to imagine that the statue screamed every time she swore. It amused her to imagine the screech that would leave the gargoyle’s stone lips. 

Grotesque, Yeojin corrected herself. It was a grotesque and not a gargoyle. They were two different things and Kim Lip was not a gargoyle. 

She imagined the screech in her head. She thought about Kim Lip’s reply. What would she say? Probably something lame like ‘there, there’ or something sarcastic like ‘aw diddums’ or perhaps she’d scold her in a motherly tone for swearing. 

That’s how Yeojin imagined Kim Lip. She liked to give all the gargoyles and grotesques names and personalities. She always imagined the ugly lion gargoyle to be mean and grumpy while the bat like creature that hung off one of the walls was sweet and kind, if a little bit of a wet wipe. Perhaps the reason Kim Lip was her favourite was because of the personality she gave her. Protective in a nagging, motherly type way. Confident, cool and bold on the outside, but funny and dorky on the inside. 

Maybe the reason she like Kim Lip so much was because she knew that she wasn’t any old gargoyle. She was special. Yeojin didn’t know if she was a person trapped in stone or if she sometimes turned to stone or what really. She always knew Kim Lip was special, but she didn’t realise how special she was until the scary people with the glowing eyes visited Kim Lip. 

Yeojin often thought about that moment. She remembered how the two women had tried to attack her. It had frightened her. Perhaps what frightened her most was how pretty the girl with the purple eye was. She looked so innocent and happy and she was seriously the prettiest girl she’d ever seen. She often thought about how it felt to feel Kim Lip’s skin turn to stone between her fingers. What was it they called Kim Lip? Jungeun. That’s it. 

Yeojin looked up at the grotesque, she took in its feminine features and human lips, and the long teeth that jutted out over them. 

“Jungeun,” she whispered. The wind whipped around her feet as if it acknowledged her. The stone did not soften. Kim Lip was still a grotesque. Yeojin wasn’t sure why she was so disappointed. Surely it would be stupid to expect that a gargoyle would turn human for her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

Yeojin grumpily leant her head back on the grotesque, her head seemed to fit perfectly in the stone’s crevices. 

“I wonder...” a woman’s voice asked from behind Yeojin, “if I push you, will you go splat or will you bounce?”

The small woman froze. Scared, she slowly turned her head to look up at her potential attacker. She relaxed when she saw the familiar face staring down at her. 

“Nayeon unnie! You scared me,” she whined. The older woman smirked and held out her big hand, pulling Yeojin up with ease. 

“C’mon little cub, you know what time it is,” Nayeon drawled. Another grumpy looking person stepped out from the shadows. 

“I told you we’d find her here, unnie,” Pastor Kim’s girlfriend announced. The unimpressed look on her face softened into a sweet smile when she saw Yeojin. “Come on you, time to get going. Dahyun unnie is waiting for you. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

Feeling small, both in a childlike sense and a literal sense (Tzuyu was a motherfucking giant in Yeojin’s eyes), Yeojin allowed the older woman to take her hand and lead her away from her favourite grotesque. When she looked over her shoulder, she could have sworn she saw it move. Perhaps she was losing it.

Grasping on to Tzuyu’s hand, Yeojin was lead down the corridors of the JYP building as usual. They had entered through the usual entrance, the reception and doctor’s office. Instead of going into the doctor’s room where she’d have her weekly blood test, Yeojin was lead into an elevator which travelled downwards. Yeojin had forgotten that she was due her check-up session. She was never a fan of the check-ups. They were supposed to be a physical check-up but they always felt more like a weird therapy session. Still, the people at JYP had always assured Yeojin that all kids got regular check-ups alongside weekly blood tests, so obviously she wasn’t going to question it. Even though she rarely saw anyone her own age around JYP. Maybe they were at school. That would explain it. 

The three stopped outside a door. 

“Lucky you, kid,” Nayeon said. Her tone was a little sarcastic but Yeojin had come to realise that Nayeon sounded sarcastic even when she was being sincere. “You’ve got Dr Myoui today.”

Yeojin nodded silently. She was sure she had met Dr Myoui before, she remembered a quiet, observant woman sitting in on her blood tests and check-ups. She seemed nice, nicer than some of the others who had done her check-ups. 

Tzuyu knocked on the door and popped her head around. She turned back to the much shorter girls and shrugged.

“She’s not in yet,” she announced in a monotone voice. 

“So, are we just gonna wait for her?” Nayeon asked, impatience evident in her voice. 

“No, you’re going to wait for her. There are animals who need my attention,” Tzuyu declared and immediately began to walk off. 

“JYP won’t be happy!” Nayeon called after her.

“JYP can suck my dick,” Tzuyu shouted back. As she turned around to flip off the older woman, her body and legs seemed to lengthen, making her grow a good foot. Yeojin was surprised she didn’t shit herself, if she was honest. Tall people unnerved her, super tall people were honestly terrifying. Who’s to say they wouldn’t stand on her? As walked backwards flipping off Nayeon, who playfully smirked and swore at her in return, Tzuyu began to laugh, revealing a forked tongue. 

Yeojin’s breath got caught in her throat. She looked up at Nayeon, terrified, but when she looked back, Tzuyu was normal tall not freakishly tall. The short girl released that stolen breath. 

Beside her, Nayeon folded her arms and began to grumble to herself under her breath. She was mumbling something about babysitting and being demoted and something about higher demons. 

“Higher demons? What do you know about demons?” Yeojin inquired curiously. Nayeon winced awkwardly. 

“Ugh, forget I said that, kiddo. I’ll tell you when you’re old enough,” the older woman said, ruffling Yeojin’s hair. The short girl scrunched her nose. 

“I’m seventeen, I’m not a fucking baby,” she said under her breath, folding her arms grumpily. Nayeon smirked but didn’t say anything. They waited for a few more minutes before Nayeon evidently got bored. 

As she began to walk away, the taller woman turned and said sternly, “Stay where you are, I’m going to find Mina, I mean, Dr Myoui.”

Yeojin shrugged simply and leant against the wall in boredom. She wished she had her phone with her so she could entertain herself, but she’d left it in her room. Bored, Yeojin began to kick her feet against the wall. Her eyes lingered on doors that lined the corridors. 

Surely it wouldn’t hurt to go and see what was in the rooms? Just a little peek would be fine, right? As long as she didn’t stray far from Dr Myoui’s room, it would be fine, right?

Yeojin was many things, but she sure as hell wasn’t a coward. 

Grinning to herself, Yeojin strolled up to the nearest door and peeked through the window. It was an office, boring. The next few doors were offices as well. Some large, some tiny, all boring as fuck. She came to the end of the corridor and considered her options. She could either go back and die of boredom, or she could check out the rooms in this corridor. 

Curiosity killed the cat. Yeojin began to turn to go back.

But satisfaction brought it back. Grinning, Yeojin turned left and approached the first door that lined the sterile, white corridor. 

This room was so much more interesting. Yeojin wondered why she hadn’t gone exploring before. Oh, that’s right, this was the first time she’d been left unattended. 

This room seemed to be a laboratory. There were no people inside, but the benches were lined with all sorts of books. Textbooks, notebooks, weird ancient looking texts. This was much more interesting than all those offices. Fume cupboards lined the walls. Each fume cupboard had something inside it. Some had test tubes filled with various coloured liquids. Some had empty glassware. One had a clothes line with white, black and gold feathers hanging off it. As if drawn towards the lab, Yeojin pressed down on the door handle. She wasn’t surprised that the door didn’t open.

Her curiosity brought Yeojin to the next door. It was another lab. This one was less interesting, it just had blood samples and testing equipment everywhere. She’d seen these kinds of labs depicted in medical dramas so this was pretty standard. She did wonder if some of her blood was in there. That would be kind of cool. 

This corridor contained more labs. None were as interesting as the first. All were empty, which was weird. When Yeojin looked down at her watch, she noticed it was lunchtime. Everyone must have gone for lunch. That would explain it. Her realisation made everything feel less creepy and the tension leaked out of her shoulders. 

The sound of laughter made Yeojin perk up. It wasn’t creepy laughter, not the type of laughter you’d expect to hear in a creepy deserted corridor. No, it was joyful laughter. 

Despite having decided not to stray too far from Dr Myoui’s office, Yeojin set off in the direction of the laughter. She walked purposefully down the corridor and turned left. As she walked the laughter got louder and more voices joined in. 

Eventually she reached a dead-end. She was sure the laughter was coming from the other side of the wall. She was certain of it. The laughter died down, but Yeojin was certain that she could hear chatter. Annoyed, the short girl pressed her head against the wall. As she did, she spotted something strange, a crack down the middle of the wall that looked suspiciously like the crack between two double doors. 

Yeojin jumped back with a gasp. 

It was still a wall. 

Frowning, Yeojin pressed her hand against the wall. The stone seemed to ripple. Slowly, the stone façade rippled away, revealing white double doors. There was a small window on each door. Yeojin had to stand on her toes to be able to see through it. 

Behind the doors was what looked like a sports hall. There was a wooden floor and goals/hoops on either end. There were loads of markings on the floor which made it difficult to see what sports were supposed to be played there. 

Inside the hall was the source of the laughter and chatter. Five girls. They all looked around Yeojin’s age, probably older. Four of them were playing a game with a ball, throwing it between them in more and more exotic ways. The fifth was sat on the floor against the stone wall with a book in her lap, but she was focussed on the girls in front of her. 

Yeojin blinked, and the scene changed. 

There were still four girls playing with a ball while the fifth watched, but their bodies changed. The girl on the floor had another set of ears, they were large and pointed and fluffy, like a little dog. She grinned adorably, but the long fangs in her mouth were less than adorable. One of the girls bounced up to catch the ball, she twisted in the air. When her back turned to Yeojin, she could see the small, leathery wings protruding from her back. They looked awkward, like they were nowhere near their full size. The flapped uselessly as she landed.

One girl crouched on the floor, her short tail flicking behind her. Yeojin wondered if her tail was still growing too. She burst forwards on all fours and leapt towards the winged girl, elegantly stealing the ball from her grasp. 

“Ryujin!” one girl called out, sounding a little scandalised. The girl with the short, black tail and short, blue hair smirked and tossed the ball to the girl who spoke. That girl caught it with hands that looked more like paws with opposable thumbs. There was white fur on her hands and wrists that thinned out down her forearm. She was barefoot, revealing the furry, turned in feet that looked more like bear paws than normal feet. 

The last laughing girl seemed to grow taller and taller the longer Yeojin looked at her. It seemed like the skin on her arms were lined with tattoos of vines, but she looked far too young to have tattoos. 

Yeojin’s mouth dropped open. Her heart was pumping in her chest, the blood rushed to her ears. She knew she was sweating, she regretted wearing such a heavy jumper. Her head began to ache. Her left eye began to burn in it’s socket. Her chest tightened and she was suddenly aware that she was feeling something other than fear. 

The girl in the hall who was closest to the door, the one with paws for hands and feet, stopped paying attention to the game and began to turn towards the door. Yeojin lowered her feet, grateful that her height allowed her to hide below the window. She kept her hand on the door. 

“Hey, are you okay?” a deep voice asked. Yeojin knew that voice. She turned to face the girl and the strange sensations stopped suddenly. The burning in her eye, the pounding headache, the tight chest, they all stopped. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding, but that was normal fear. 

Yeojin knew she had heard that voice before, it was that girl who was friends with Haseul, Yeojin’s weird friend. Her energy was off, something about this girl unnerved Yeojin and she had explanation for it. 

“You’re Haseul’s friend,” was all Yeojin could say in response. The girl smiled awkwardly. 

“Ugh, yeah. Heejin,” she said, “You’re Yeojin, right?”

The short girl nodded. Heejin, who wore an all black, baggy tracksuit with the JYP logo on her chest, approached Yeojin. That weird energy consumed Yeojin as she got closer. The short girl backed into the corner, her hand still on the door. As Heejin got closer, Yeojin spotted things about her she hadn’t noticed before such as the whiteness of her skin, the moles on her face, the bags under her eyes and of course the two black dots on either side of her forehead. When Yeojin blinked, they were gone. 

“I, uh, I feel like you’re probably not supposed to be here,” Heejin said awkwardly, her hand resting on the door handle. 

“Uh, probably not,” Yeojin agreed awkwardly. She raised herself onto her tippy toes and glanced over the window into the sports hall. The four girls looked normal again, they were laughing and playing with the ball like normal girls. 

The sound of high heels clacking against the floor startled Yeojin. She turned to see Park Jihyo stride towards her. She looked furious, but her face softened when she saw Yeojin.

“Oh my, Yeojin there you are. Do you know how fucking worried I was?” she said, as she reached the short girl and hugged her tightly against her chest. Formally, the woman turned Haseul’s friend and nodded her head. “Jeon Heejin, thank you for finding her.”

Heejin smiled, but it was more of a grimace than a genuine smile, “It’s fine, Miss Park.”

“Ugh, I should never have let Nayeon and Tzuyu go get you, I should have known they’d leave you,” Jihyo rambled as she guided Yeojin back along the corridors. “Honestly, I should have known better than to trust those two as a pair. They just play off each other. Christ, remind me next time not to let a couple of demons do a job unsupervised, no matter how good and reformed they are.”

Yeojin remained quiet and stared up at the older woman. Jihyo realised what she had said and groaned, “Yeojin, please forget what I just said. You can remember it when you’re eighteen.”

The small woman only nodded. 

The blood test was the easy part of the assessment. Yeojin was lucky in the sense that she could give blood easily. Three small capsules of blood were placed into a little bag and sent away. This left Yeojin with Dr Myoui, or Mina as she’d been instructed to call her, and Jihyo. 

Yeojin was glad she was with those two. Some of the other workers at JYP unnerved her. And, since she saw Pastor Kim all the time, after all she was basically looking after her, she didn’t like doing check-ups while she was in the room. It made her feel weird. However, Mina was really nice and she quite shy. She always tried to make Yeojin feel comfortable and assured her that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. Jihyo would make her do things she didn’t want to, but she always arranged for Yeojin to go out for ice cream afterwards so she couldn’t help but like Jihyo. 

First came the physical bit of her check-up. Mina diligently measured her height, weight and pulse. She put on a pair of gloves and felt Yeojin’s abdomen and her neck glands. She inspected her hands and then her mouth and teeth. Then came the eye examination. The doctor held the tool to Yeojin’s right eye and did the usual examination that she was used to. She held the tool to Yeojin’s left eye and hesitated. She brought the tool closer, then continued as usual. As she pulled away she wrote something down on her note pad. Jihyo raised an eyebrow.

“What? What’s wrong?” Yeojin asked curiously. 

“Oh, nothing unusual,” Mina replied nonchalantly, “Let’s continue.”

The following test had Yeojin punching things, pushing against things and running for a minute on the spot. She had always found this bit odd. They finished off the physical exam by testing her eyesight and hearing. 

And then came the worst bit of the check-up.

Yeojin had to talk about her feelings. Ugh. 

She always said the same thing, it was routine by now. She was bored, she was lonely, she wished she could go to school and meet other people her age. She wished she could remember her life before the accident. She was thankful that she was taken in by the Church, she was thankful that she was taken care of by the people at JYP. Blah blah blah. 

Mina wrote everything down with frown. Jihyo’s face was unreadable. Once Yeojin finished talking, Mina closed her notebook with a pleasant smile. 

“Jihyo, would you mind getting some for water for Yeojin and I before we wrap this up,” she asked sweetly. The other woman seemed confused by obliged. 

Mina shuffled her chair closer to Yeojin, close enough that the young woman could see the metallic flash of the ‘Tw’ symbol that was on her JYP ID. She’d noticed that only a very select few people had this symbol on their ID. 

“Yeojin, I need you to be honest with me. Has anything changed lately? Have you had any headaches or anything like that?” Mina asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

“I guess. I’ve had some headaches and, like, eye aches. And I’ve been seeing things recently,” Yeojin whispered back.

“Like people with tails and wings?” Mina asked carefully. Yeojin nodded. The doctor’s sigh was heavy. “Yeojin, you must suppress it.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t focus on trying to see those people. Don’t try to find answers. Just suppress it. You have to suppress it,” the doctor whispered desperately. Yeojin blinked in stunned silence. “While you’re still under eighteen, consent belongs to your guardian. If you don’t suppress it, you’ll have no say in what they do to you. When you’re eighteen, you have consent. They can’t do anything to you if you don’t explicitly agree to it. You can choose to help them, or you can walk away and forget all about us, which I strongly suggest you do.”

“Doctor Myoui? I don’t understand,” Yeojin whispered, she was aware she sounded like a frightened little girl, but she didn’t give a shit. 

“Yeojin, I promise we’re not the bad guys, we’re not. But, the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve done, I don’t know if the motive can justify the actions. Please, these strange things I’m sure you’ve been feeling, please suppress them for your own sake,” the doctor whispered dramatically. 

The door opened and Jihyo came back in with two cups of water. Mina sat back with a pleasant smile. 

“Thank you for sharing Yeojin, I’ll make a note of that,” Mina said softly and clearly pretended to write something in her notebook. 

“Everything okay?” the intimidating leader asked. Mina nodded lightly while Yeojin nodded energetically. 

The door opened again and a short woman with short hair popped her head round the door. 

“Ice cream?” she asked, bouncing up and down like a puppy. Yeojin stood and bounced on her heels, pleading with Jihyo to let her go for ice cream. The older woman ruffled the teenager’s hair fondly and let her go. The short woman was Chaeyoung, a relaxed artist who Yeojin still had no idea what she did for JYP. Whenever she asked, the short woman would always laugh and brush her off. Having said that, most of the girls with ‘Tw’ on their badge laughed and brushed Yeojin off whenever she asked about their job. 

Check-up days were always weird, but at least she got ice cream out of it. 

Chaeyoung had dropped Yeojin off back at the church. Unfortunately, they had to get their ice cream to go since Chaeyoung had been called back to work. Yeojin liked spending time with the artist, she was funny and made her feel less short. As always, she walked through the church, out through the back entrance and down the garden. At the bottom of the garden was the clergy house, where she and some other members of the church lived. In her seven years of living there, Yeojin had seen many priests and pastors come and go, yet she was the only constant tenant.

Yeojin entered her room and slid across the lock. Her room was basic, to say the least. It was small with a small window that let in a small patch of natural light. Her bed was small and uncomfortable, making her glad that she wasn’t any taller. She had a desk with a wooden chair and some shelves for school work. She had a wardrobe half-full of the few clothes which Yeojin owned. The light had stopped working a while ago and was never fixed. She was just given candles instead. Which was fine. 

Yeojin was thankful that she had her own bathroom and didn’t have to share with the adults who resided in the small cottage. She had her own shower, sink and toilet. And there were even a few shelves in the bathroom for her belongings! Not that Yeojin really had any belongings. 

She’d been told that she grew up in care, so didn’t have many belongings to begin with. And then all her things were destroyed after her accident. Everything she had was given to her by Pastor Park. He used to live in the cottage with her, but moved out when he had a daughter of his own. There were other priests and pastors to keep her company though. Sometimes Pastor Kim and her Jihyo and her friends would give Yeojin little gifts, that’s why she liked them so much. 

All Yeojin had from before her accident was a picture of herself as a young child held by her father. The picture had been torn, if there was anyone else in the photo, Yeojin had no idea what they looked like. 

The short girl sat on her bed and tucked into her tub of ice cream. Chaeyoung would always buy Yeojin as many scoops as she wanted, as long as she agreed to get one scoop of strawberry because ‘it was the bestest flavour ever’. So Yeojin got strawberry, vanilla and chocolate today. She was feeling simple flavours. Today was complicated, and sometimes it’s nice to enjoy simplicity. 

Not realising how hungry she was, Yeojin tucked into the ice cream a little too quickly. 

“Ah! Brain freeze!” she cried out to the empty room, clutching her head. Despite the pain in her head, she continued to hungrily eat the ice cream. 

Content, Yeojin collapsed onto her bed and picked up the book she was reading. It was some sort of religious text, but all the books in the cottage were either religious texts or stories about demons and witches and angels and faeries. She liked those ones the most, even though she’d read all of them at least once. 

Her headache had graduated from a bit of brain freeze to a proper headache. The words on the page seemed to become fuzzy and swirly. Yeojin groaned and set the book aside. She closed her eyes and hoped the headache would pass. 

It didn’t. 

The main moved from the back of her head and began to concentrate behind her eyes. Groaning, Yeojin sat up and stumbled to her sink. She turned it on and sucked up some water, splashing some on her face. 

She looked up in the mirror. Her pain was reflected back at her, but she looked normal.

The pain behind her eyes shifted into her left eye. It burnt. It felt like her eye socket was on fire. She groaned in pain, clutching her eye.

She remembered what she had been told, “Suppress it”. But she couldn’t, there was no way to make the pain stop. 

Yeojin released her face and gripped onto the sink, panting heavily. She looked up in the mirror. 

The girl in the reflection was Yeojin, but at the same time she wasn’t. Her left eye was glowing orange, the same type of burnt orange as the sunset or a burning flame. The short girl screamed and fell backwards. The girl in the mirror did the same. Yeojin slid up her shower, focussing on the horrified face in the mirror. 

And then something struck her. A memory. 

She’d done this before. She’d seen this sight before. It was like the scene changed around her, her body was bursting with energy. She was in a different bathroom, looking in a different mirror, seeing a much younger version of herself scream at the burning orange eye in her reflection. She remembered leaving her room and seeing her pink bedroom shake, the windows shattered. She remembered seeing a blue eye and purple eye in the distance.

And that’s all she could remember. 

In the present, her eye felt like it was going to burn out of its socket. Her chest felt tight and her head was pounding. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the sink for balance. She fell back onto the floor, a piece of the sink in her hands. With a yelp, Yeojin threw the sink piece to the floor. It landed with a sickening crack as it dented the floor. 

Terrified, Yeojin pushed her way out of the bathroom. She needed help, but she remembered Dr Myoui’s warning. She wanted to go to Pastor Kim, but what if something bad happened? Yeojin reached out to grab her coat, but the fabric set alight the moment her fingertips encountered it. 

With a yelp, Yeojin opened her window and rolled out through the small space. She fell a storey and landed on her front. Miraculously unharmed, the short girl scrambled to her feet and ran up to the church. There was only one place she knew to go to. Ignoring the cries of everyone that went past, Yeojin kept her head down and scrambled up the winding staircase that led to the roof. 

The short girl ran through the bell tower and launched herself onto her favourite grotesque, hugging it’s stone back, clinging on for dear life. 

“Kim Lip, I’m so scared,” she began to weep onto the stone, “I don’t know what’s happening to me, I don’t know who to turn to.”

Yeojin slammed her hand against the back of the statue. She cried loudly, painfully. 

“Kim Lip! I know you can be human! Why won’t you be human and help me?” she cried. She remembered the name she had heard the grotesque be called. “Jungeun. Please, please help me. Jungeun, Jungeun, please,” she whispered into the stone desperately. 

Nothing happened. 

Yeojin rested her face against the stone wings and wept. 

Suddenly, she became aware of how the stone was softening and how her face was sinking into wings which felt more and more like leather. Yeojin fell backwards, her eyes and head throbbing still. 

The figure before her stood slowly, wings unfurling impressively. Her arms dropped to her side, the hands uncurled, revealing long claws. Had Yeojin just made a serious mistake?

The figure turned around slowly. Yeojin was sure if her heart began to beat any quicker it would beat right out of her chest. The pain in her left eye suddenly got much worse, to the point that it felt like someone was trying to stab her eye out. She covered it foolishly. 

Finally, the figure was facing her. She was looking down at Yeojin with a confused frown.

“Yeojin?” she asked, “What the actual fuck?”

“Kim Lip!” Yeojin cried, letting go of her eye. The human grotesque took a step back when her dark gaze fell on Yeojin’s eye. “Please, I don’t know what’s going on.”

The monstrous being stepped off her perch and crouched in front of Yeojin, offering a clawed hand to her. Yeojin hesitantly took it and felt herself be pulled into the grotesque’s arms. She wrapped her arms around Kim Lip’s body and sobbed into her chest. The pain in her head and chest began to fade a little. 

“I don’t understand,” Kim Lip said, her voice hoarse with disuse, “You’re not old enough.”

“What’s happening to me?” Yeojin whimpered. 

“You’re… you’re special, Yeojin. You’re very special. It’s okay, I’m here for you. I can help you,” Kim Lip said comfortingly. 

“And how do you propose that you do that when you’re made of stone?” a new voice drawled. Yeojin pressed herself against Kim Lip’s chest and felt her wings circle her protectively. She turned her head enough that she could see the owner of the voice. It was the two women she had seen before, one with a purple eye and one with a blue eye.

“Stay away from her,” Kim Lip snarled, baring her long, tusk-like fangs. 

“Snarl all you want, you don’t frighten me,” the blue eyed girl laughed. 

“Well, you should,” the winged woman growled, she commanded Yeojin to get behind her, which she did immediately, then stood up and puffed her chest, unfurling her wings to their full, impressive wingspan. 

The two girls clearly tried to seem unimpressed by Kim Lip’s show of defiance, yet one of them gulped and other licked her lips nervously. 

“You can intimidate us all you want, that girl belongs with us,” the blue-eyed woman declared, “Odd eyes belong together. She needs us to help her.”

“You know what can happen when odd eyes are suppressed. She needs our help,” the purple-eyed girl with the pretty smile said calmly. Kim Lip growled at her inhumanly. 

“And you expect me to just hand her over to you and him. Don’t you think he has captured enough odd eyes? I won’t let him have another,” the human grotesque roared. Yeojin looked out from behind her legs. The purple eyed girl made eye contact with Yeojin. Purple met orange. She seemed sympathetic. 

“Jinsol, maybe we should just let her be. Let her make her own decision?” the purple-eyed girl suggested. The woman with the blue eye frowned. 

“Yerim, you know what will happen to us if we don’t come back with her,” she whispered, low enough that Yeojin had to strain to hear. The raven haired woman turned back to Kim Lip and cried, “If you don’t hand her over then we’ll take her by force.”

“Good luck,” Kim Lip growled, flexing her lengthy claws. 

“I don’t think we’ll need it, Jungeun,” the blue-eyed woman said smugly. Kim Lip faltered. “I don’t think we’ll need much luck when you’re stone.”

Kim Lip began to lurch back towards her perch. Her face was strained and each step was slow and heavy, as if she was trying to push back against a physical force. Her skin slowly morphed back into stone. 

Yeojin’s protector was no more. 

“Come on, Kid, you’re coming with us,” the blue-eyed woman strode towards Yeojin, who tried to scramble away.

As her hand reached out to grab the short girl, an arrow suddenly whizzed through the air and landed directly in the middle of her hand. The woman roared in pain. Angrily, she grabbed the purple-eyed girl and the pair disappeared into thin air. 

Yeojin looked over at her saviour. 

It was Chaeyoung who was holding the crossbow. She already had another arrow notched. She was wearing a black leather jacket and tight, black trousers. A departure from the loose-fitting light clothes she was wearing earlier. Dr Myoui was behind her and Tzuyu loomed over them in the rear. 

“Shit, Yeojin, are you okay?” Chaeyoung asked, rushing over to help the tiny girl to her feet. 

Yeojin became aware that the pain in her eye had gone completely. She nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. 

“Well, it’s a good job we came to check on you, you really did a number on your room,” the short woman declared. 

“I didn’t mean to,” Yeojin protested, slurring her words. 

Tzuyu came closer and scowled at the small teenager. 

“Well, Jihyo will be pleased that her methods of activation worked,” she commented. Dr Myoui seemed infuriated by her words. 

“No, we can’t tell anyone what happened today. As far as everyone’s aware, Yeojin was taken ill and spilt a candle which caused the fire in her room. We got there swiftly and saved her which is why she is fine. Understand?” the doctor said, a little too calmly. 

The two others seemed alarmed. 

“I can’t even tell-” Tzuyu’s question was cut off.

“No. Tell no one what we saw today. You don’t work in the labs, you don’t know what they were planning to use her for. Yeojin is human and that’s that,” Dr Myoui declared. The two other women nodded sagely, voicing their agreement. 

“Who were those people?” Yeojin asked, her vision started to get blurry again, but the head pain wasn’t there anymore. 

“Those are the very people who we are fighting against. Those are the people who we are protecting humanity from,” Chaeyoung said softly. 

Before she could say anything else, Yeojin’s knees gave out on her. She felt two strong arms wrap around her. She tried to speak, to voice her fear, but her tongue wouldn’t move. The last thing she saw before her eyes were welded shut was Dr Myoui’s panicked expression as she moved closer towards her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I went ahead and did a chapter from someone else's point of view. Lol.
> 
> As always, feel free to comment, I like receiving feedback. If you have any ideas for where I'm going with this fic, I'm open to suggestions because I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.
> 
> Stay safe, kiddos.


	17. Interlude III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really should be studying since my exams haven't been cancelled but have been moved online (big rip). But alas, I am not.
> 
> As always, feel free to comment, criticism or praise. 
> 
> Do you guys know who the interludes are about? I've written the final interlude, but am waiting for the right moment to post it.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos.

A girl on the verge of womanhood sat on the floor in front of a canvas, finishing off a painting of a man stood inside a pentagram. Stealing the paints without her father noticing had been simple. Stealing the canvas, less so. Her father monitored each painting she drew. There was no practicing, not anymore. Since he monitored each painting, he also monitored the girl’s supplies. While she had managed to steal a canvas from under her father’s nose, she knew the blame fell onto someone else and the blood on her hands grew ever thicker.

That was why she was doing this, the blood on her hands. Everyone has some blood on their hands for that’s the way of the world. This girl had more blood on her hands than a middle-aged murderer. 

Through her gift, her father had pushed himself to become a high-ranking government official. Although he loved recognition, he loved power and money more. Ruling over the ‘good’ people wasn’t enough for him, he had wanted control over everyone. Next on his list of empires was gangs, drug cartels, circles of thieves and killers, he was to infiltrate and rule them all. And the poor girl helped him do that. 

Through her paintings, he could torture, maim and kill without a trace. The people of Hong Kong weren’t stupid, all the death and destruction mirrored his climb to power. The people assumed he was surrounded by men armed with guns, knives and, worst of all, words. However, the people didn’t realise the source of his power was a teenaged girl armed with a paintbrush.

The guilt, the pain, the blood on her hands increased with every person’s life she was forced to destroy. There was nothing the girl could do. Or so she thought.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The girl had a few options. 

Escape. 

And risk her father finding her and murdering her, or worse. 

Murder. 

She could kill her father herself. Draw a painting of his suicide. And spend the rest of her days wracked with guilt and cleaning his mess. Or dead. 

Evocation. 

She could summon a demon and make a deal. Whatever the demon wanted for her freedom. A way to escape without having a bounty on her head. Make someone else do the dirty work.

The girl found one of these options particularly enticing, especially when her father’s cruelty was directed at her. However, she chose the third option. Demonic assistance. 

It was risky, she knew that. 

The girl studied hard, desperate for a way out that didn’t end in death. She figured the safest way to summon a demon, would be to draw one. She found a depiction of a higher demon named ‘The Bargainer’. This would be her saviour, or her undoing. She never considered possibility that it would be both.

And so, she copied the depiction of the demon in her room under candlelight while her father was sleeping. She didn’t sleep for an entire week. Her father didn’t notice. 

Before the painting was complete, the teenager drew a pentagram on her bedroom floor in a mix of salt and charcoal. She left a glass of wine in the centre of pentagram, her father had taught her to be a kind hostess. No one checks the closet for skeletons if they’re too drunk to even stand. 

She finished the painting with a flourish and stared hard at her finished work. 

The candle blew out. 

The girl relighted the candle and got to her feet. She finally acknowledged the creature stood in the middle of her perfect pentagram. It was male with impossibly pale skin and eyes that glowed red, casting a red glow over the candlelit room. When he grinned, the smile started normally, then it spread to reach each ear. He swirled the glass of wine but did not drink from it.

“I’ve never been given a refreshment upon my summoning,” he had hissed, his voice sounded like nails scratching against a blackboard to the girl. “I usually have to find my own source of refreshment.” His glowing orbs settled briefly on the girl’s neck. She could not contain her shivers. 

“Are you the demon known as the Bargainer?” the girl had asked. The demon bowed. 

“That is what some call me. You, my dear, may call me Jaden,” the creature hissed. The foreign name felt strange on the girl’s tongue as she repeated it back to him with an introduction of her own.

“I need your help,” the girl said. The demon had smirked. 

The predicament was explained in great detail, with prompting from the demon. The girl felt she should not give such a demon so much information, but she could not prevent the words from leaving her lips. The demon inhaled her words, his grin growing wider with every letter.

“Leave it with me,” the Bargainer said, and then he named his price. He would rid the girl of all her troubles (without murder, as the girl made him promise) as long as her gift belonged to him. The girl, who viewed her gift as a curse, eagerly accepted his terms. She was excited to be rid of the blood on her hands. 

The deal was sealed. Two bloody hands entwined over the invisible boundary of the pentagram. The demon climbed out of its prison with a wink and strode down the halls. The girl bandaged her hand and wiped clean the blade with which she had sliced open the palm of her hand. 

The next morning, the demon was gone. Her father took the girl to finish a portrait of a young woman giving birth to a dead child. This was not the most horrifying thing she had drawn. The picture was finished, the radio was turned on. 

The woman, the famous whore of a famous government official, had given birth to a healthy baby boy. 

Her father screamed but the girl felt nothing. She knew she ought to feel relief, yet she could not. 

The father sent her away. He first suggested Mainland China. The next day he suggested Korea. The girl noticed he was missing a finger. 

And so, she made the move. 

The girl, with a new name and identity and very little knowledge of Korean, was sent to a normal school in Korea. 

There, girl meets girl, or so the story goes. 

Girl meets girl, girl goes to university to study business under the influence of her father, girl breaks up with girl. Girl is miserable.

The girl found that her reins had been passed from one abuser to another.

The Bargainer could not separate the girl from her gift. The girl didn’t know if he even tried. Her gift was wrapped up in a pretty, little bag, but only she could use it. The demon would temporarily give the girl his gift whenever he needed her assistance. He made her keep the paintings. A constant reminder of the blood that coated her hands so thick it was like she her hands permanently kept inside a vat of blood. 

The girl tried to refuse, of course she did, but the Bargainer kept one thing in her mind. If she didn’t do as she was told, she would be returned right back to her father.

For the sake of the girl she was in love with, the girl remained the Bargainer’s pet. 

Until she found a loophole.


	18. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a short one for y'all. Hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Quick content warning: there is violence in this one. I think violence is to be expected in many chapters following on from this one, just so you know.

Routine.

Routine was important to Haseul when she felt control slip from her fingers. And, with another addition to her household, she felt that control was something she would never see again.

Jiwoo and Chaewon were chaotic. There was no other way to describe them. They meant well, Haseul was sure of it. But she quickly learnt not to let Chaewon anywhere near the kitchen. Something always got burnt whenever the fallen angel stepped foot in the kitchen. Chicken nuggets, hands, pans, even fucking water. 

And Jiwoo, well, once she had discovered that acting cute helped her get her own way, there was no stopping her. Vivi was particularly susceptible to her charms. If she wanted attention or food, all Jiwoo had to do was flutter her eyelashes and shoot her a couple of hearts and Vivi would do anything she wanted. Haseul could withstand Jiwoo’s cuteness (that was a lie, she was worse than Vivi).

In order to gain some sort of control or feeling of routine, the angels were forced to get jobs. Mainly so they could support Haseul’s ever increasing food bill. She wasn’t sure how the pair managed to keep their jobs, they were terrible workers. She imagined that if the manager ever tried to fire them, they just pouted and threatened to cry. 

And Haseul, once her throat was healed up, actually started going to classes. A wild concept. 

Routine started to come naturally. Haseul would wake up, go to university, drop the kids off at their job along the way, go to class and study between classes. Usually she’d go to the gym or try to socialise with people in her classes after they finished working. She’d then pick up the kids after work and spend the evening at home. 

Her routine didn’t leave much time for other people. Haseul didn’t see much of Heejin, but Hyunjin always made an effort to meet her. Vivi wasn’t in the house much. She claimed she was keeping an eye on Sooyoung, who seemed to be getting more and more self-destructive by the day.

Haseul decided to cut herself off from all the supernatural shite. After the whole dream choking thing, she just didn’t want anything to do with it. She turned her head whenever she saw a person in the street with snake eyes or fur or tusks. Jiwoo and Chaewon didn’t want to talk about heaven and Haseul did not press them. She didn’t visit the church. Haseul did feel guilty about that, but she figured that seeing the doppelganger of her dead sister probably wasn’t very good for her mental health. 

Ignorance is bliss, or so they say.

And Jungeun… well Haseul decided that she didn’t want to know about her secret or whatever. She decided that pursuing a relationship with the woman was a bad idea. That didn’t stop her thinking about Jungeun. At night, thoughts of the strange woman consumed her mind. Some wholesome, some less so. She secretly counted down the days till Yule. 

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Haseul spent Christmas with her dad. Her father had moved out to the countryside with his new wife about a year back but this was Haseul’s first time visiting his new home. 

Despite being an absolute mummy’s girl as she grew up, Haseul had always loved her dad wholeheartedly. She had to admit that the divorce had affected her more than she expected. It was tradition for her, after the divorce and custody battle, to spend Christmas with her dad, and this year was no different. Although she always hated leaving her father’s house. When she was younger it was because it meant returning to her mother who had become more and more dependent on Haseul. For the past few years, it was because she half-expected to see her mother’s body hanging from the ceiling somewhere in her apartment. That anxiety hadn’t been as bad since she moved out of her childhood and into the flat with Vivi. It would never go away.

Haseul liked her dad’s new house. It was small and compact, but very nicely decorated. She wasn’t too happy about having to sleep on the couch, especially since the second bedroom was completely empty. Her dad’s wife had smirked at her maliciously and caressed her round belly when she told Haseul they were currently decorating it in preparation for the baby.

Haseul wasn’t proud to admit that she had spent most of the past few days drunk. The only reason she wasn’t drunk on Christmas day was because she’d drank the house dry. 

It’s far too easy to fall into old habits around those who helped develop them. 

Yule. Yule started a few days before Christmas. Haseul was a little disappointed that she didn’t see her friend show up on her father’s door step on the first day of Yule. She had to admit that would have been creepy though. 

While nursing a steaming cup of cocoa in front of the crackling log fire, Haseul contemplated all of these thoughts. She thought of her expectations of Jungeun, her memories of Christmas with her father and tried not to think about Boxing Day. Her dad had let her stay an extra day this year, go home the day after Boxing Day so that she didn’t have to endure the inevitable panic attacks on the way home. And it was better for her to be around people on such a shitty day. 

The young woman suddenly became aware of her father sitting next to her.

“Hey there, sport,” he said gently. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Haseul smiled awkwardly, “It’s okay, dad. I’ve always been jumpy.”

“Yeah, you have, haven’t you?” her dad said awkwardly. He was holding a letter in his hands. Haseul tilted her head and frowned at the man beside her. His suit was ill-fitting. He had grown his hair out. His hair had turned grey a long time ago. The silver tendrils were long enough to shade his eyes. His skin was lined and spotted with age. At least the bags under his eyes weren’t as dark and heavy as they had once been.

“Is everything alright, dad?” 

Haseul finally noticed the way he winced when she said that word. “Dad”. Her chest began to tighten in a way that was all too familiar. Fuck, she hated having panic attacks in front of her dad. All he did was panic himself and try to help, but he always made it worse. At least she didn’t have to worry about that when he moved out. 

The man beside her sighed. His gaze focussed on the letter. 

“Listen, I’d been doing some thinking and, well, there’s no easy way to say this,” he sighed. “When you were a kid, Haseul, people used to tease me. They used to point out how you looked exactly like your mother and how we look nothing alike. They used to say ‘Are you sure she’s not the milkman’s’ and stuff like that. Obviously after Hajin was born and she looked like me they didn’t tease as much and they never teased after… you know.”

“What are you trying to say?” Haseul asked. Her head was spinning. 

“Well, sport, someone mentioned at the, uh, the funeral that you were so like your mother it was insane. Your looks, your temper, your… uh…”

“Anxiety?” Haseul drawled flatly. Her father only nodded shortly. 

“Well, that got me thinking. And my wife got me thinking, before last Christmas, that maybe you weren’t… mine. So, when you came round last Christmas we got a couple of hairs and a cheek swab and got it checked out,” her father said, his hands were shaking. 

Haseul didn’t know what to think. The first emotion that struck her was betrayal and then anger. How dare he do a DNA test on her without her permission? What shit bag does that?

“Do you really think this is the type of conversation we should be having on Christmas Day?” the short-haired woman asked. Her father (perhaps?) winced. 

“Look, Haseul,” he said softly, “Kyunghee, she suggested that I tell you on your final day so we didn’t spoil Christmas. But, I thought that I didn’t want to part on that note and I wasn’t going to tell you on Boxing Day because that day’s hard enough for you already! So, I thought today was the best option.”

Haseul grinded her teeth together. She knew what he was going to say next. She could see it in the way his eyes watered. 

“I’m not yours, am I?” she said, her voice low. The man beside her slowly handed her the piece of paper. His hands shook so violently it was almost difficult to take the paper off him. Haseul unfolded it with uneven breath. 

There it was. The confirmation. 

This man was not her father. 

She should have cried. She should have burst into a horrendous mess of emotion. 

But she couldn’t. She just felt empty. 

It felt like the world was laughing at her. Her sister was taken at such a young age. Her mother removed herself from her life. And now her father, well she had none. 

“Oh,” was all Haseul could manage to say. The man beside her pushed his silver hair out of his watery eyes and took the paper out of Haseul’s hands. Her hands simply fell to her side. 

“Listen, Haseul, I’ve been thinking. And, with the baby on its way, I need to support my own family. Once we’ve had our son, I won’t be able to afford to support you,” he said, his voice shaking. 

“Oh, so you’re cutting me off?” Haseul phrased the question more like a statement. 

“Not completely! I’ll pay for your university fees, like I promised. But after that…” he trailed nervously. 

“I understand. You don’t really want to be supporting someone else’s kid, even though you raised her as your own. Thanks, I feel really loved right now,” Haseul drawled sarcastically. She didn’t know where all this burning anger came from. The fury felt like it would burn up her insides. She expected to feel sorrow. She expected to cry. She was always a crier. But no, all she felt was pissed off. 

“Haseul, it’s not that I don’t love you! Of course I loved you, I thought you were my daughter,” her father said, trying to take her hands into his own.

Haseul pulled away with a scoff, “Loved. I see how it is.”

“No, that’s not what I meant! If it were up to me, I’d still support you but with the baby coming, my wife-”

The angry, short woman interrupted him as she stood to her feet, “Well, newsflash but it is up to you. You don’t have to do everything your wife tells you to. You never obeyed mum’s every word, why should you hang off Kyunghee’s every word. Because she’s a newer, younger model? Pathetic.”

Haseul gently put down the half-finished mug of cocoa, and then stormed over to the couch she had been sleeping on. She pulled out her suitcase and began to stuff her belongings inside of it. 

“Where are you going?” the sheepish looking man asked. 

“I’m going home. Clearly, I’m not wanted here,” Haseul spat. She was aware that she sounded like a petulant teenager. However, her later teenage years had been stolen from her as she spent her time caring for her mother. Surely, she was allowed to be childish sometimes. 

“You’re behaving like a spoilt child, Haseul. Christmas lunch is nearly ready, at least stay for that. Kyunghee’s been slaving over it all morning!” the man pleaded. Haseul stopped packing for a moment to put her hands on her hips.

“Kyunghee can take that Christmas lunch and shove it up her arse,” she spat. The man she once called her father raised his hand as if he was about to slap her. His hand dangled in the air for a few moments. Haseul closed her eyes, ready for impact. It never came. The exhausted looking man stormed out of the room. She heard him yell “Are you happy now?” at his wife. The shout was soon followed by the slam of the door. 

Haseul considered going after him. She hesitated for a few more moments, and then went to move towards the back entrance to the house. She found her path was blocked. 

From round the kitchen door, a slimy figure appeared. 

“I see my husband told you the truth,” she hissed, “Good. Are you leaving now?”

Haseul sighed sharply. She supposed her step-mother could be considered quite beautiful. She did have full lips, pretty eyes and voluminous hair. Haseul thought the effect was ruined by the bottle blonde colour of her hair and, of course, the spoiled pout of her lips. The woman smirked maliciously and rubbed her hands over her pregnant belly. 

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll be glad to see me go,” she said as she took a step back towards her suitcase. 

“Oh, Haseul. It would never have come to this had you shared your mother’s riches,” the woman said as she stepped towards Haseul. She ran her cold finger down the young woman’s cheek. Haseul shivered. “But no, you just had to keep mummy’s money to yourself. Such a shame,”

“Mother wished for me to inherit the house and her money. I would never go against her wishes. I love her too much,” Haseul said sincerely. The woman in front of her pouted as she stepped closer. 

“Poor Jo Haseul, a mummy’s girl to the bitter end. But now Jo Haseul has no mummy and no daddy to protect her. And guess what? Jo Haseul’s little bodyguard is rendered powerless during Yule! Isn’t that funny? So far away from home, so far away from help. What will little Jo Haseul, the filthy little half-blood, do?” the blonde woman asked in a horribly cutesy voice. 

“Huh?” Haseul asked stupidly. 

She should have seen it coming. The jealous step-mother always tried to harm the step-daughter in the stories. She should have seen the kitchen knife in the blonde’s hand. As always, Haseul was little too worried about her own feelings to worry about people’s intentions. 

The blade slashed downwards. It would have been buried in Haseul’s shoulder had she not dodged the blade inhumanly quickly. 

The blonde woman snarled and struck again. This time, panicking, Haseul slapped the woman’s arm out of her face. She, luckily, smacked the knife out of her hand. It landed on the floor with a pathetic little clang. 

Her step-mother sighed, “You’ve left me no choice, Jo Haseul. I guess I’m doing this the old-fashioned way.”

The older woman ripped off her jumper and her floor-length skirt. Haseul balked at the woman’s naked body, sickened by the sight. Her step-mother had the torso and head of a woman, but the legs of a bird. Her pregnant belly hung out over the top of her feathered waist. 

Haseul watched in horror as the creature held her arms out. Her arms and back began to contort. The female monster shrieked. Steel feathers began to poke out of the stretched skin of her contorted arms. Soon her arms had been replaced by steel wings. She smirked.

“Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to take my true form. Gosh, pretending to be human so you can marry an ugly human and ruin a stupid half-blood’s life is really more trouble than it’s worth,” the ugly creature that had replaced Kyunghee sighed. She flapped her steel wings and rose into the air. “Don’t worry dear, I shan’t kill you. Not yet. He wants you alive.”

“Oh shit!” Haseul cried.

The bird demon dove towards her. Haseul shrieked. Birds, why did it have to be birds?

She tumbled out of the way and staggered towards the door. Surely the monster would not attack outside where the neighbours could see?

As Haseul raced for the door, she felt a sharp pain in her back. Claws dragged down her back and Haseul cried out for help as she was knocked to the ground. The short woman struggled on the ground, the weight on her back making it impossible to get back up. She felt a breath on the back of her neck, and then another on her ear. She could smell the rotting stench of the monster’s breath.

“You’re mine, Jo Haseul,” she whispered. The demon laughed maniacally. “Imagine how pleased he’ll be when I come back with you. Me, a lower demon. Not The Bargainer or his prized pets. Little old me.”

Haseul felt her body be lifted from the ground. The pain in her back where the demon’s claws dug into her was agonising. She began to flail around wildly, desperate for something to hold onto.

Haseul was not going to be defeated by her fucking bitch of a step-mother. Not on her watch. 

A silver flash caught Haseul’s eyes. She flailed around and reached out for the forgotten kitchen knife. She brushed it with the tips of her fingers. Too busy trying to lift Haseul off the ground, the demon didn’t notice her prey’s efforts. Triumphantly, the short woman grasped onto the handle of the knife. 

She waited until her body had been lifted into the air, and then she slammed the blade into the monster’s ankle, slicing across the tendons of her feet. The bird demon shrieked and let go of its prey. Haseul landed on the ground with a thud. She fucked up her landing and fell onto her knees. 

The creature dove down once more, one of her feet flopping uselessly. With a shout, Haseul rolled out of the way and leapt onto the giant bird’s back. The demon flapped around the living room, slamming Haseul against the ceiling until her head was pounding. Steel feathers dug into Haseul’s hips and thighs, cutting through the fabric of her clothes and into her skin. That gave her an idea. She plucked a steel feather and thrust it into the shoulder blade of the monster, who fell to the ground with a shriek. 

Panicked, Haseul yanked her half-packed suitcase off the sofa and ran outside with it. Once outside, she took a moment to zip it up. Freezing cold without a coat, Haseul ran all the way to the little train station in the middle of the village. It was a miracle the trains were even running, that’s what the man at the ticket station told her. At least something was working in Haseul’s favour. Someone somewhere was on her side. 

Only once the train started moving did Haseul dare to look back. Only once she was halfway through her journey home did Haseul let the ordeal take over. She sobbed heavily into the back of the seat in front of her. 

It seemed that demons were following Haseul just like angels were. Living in ignorance was only endangering her further. And took an attack from a giant fucking bird to make her realise that.

Once she stopped sobbing, Haseul wiped her eyes and made a decision. 

From now onwards, she would dedicate herself to finding out the truth. No more living in ignorance, no more carefully treading around trying not to create waves. Haseul would create tsunamis if she had to. Haseul would find out the truth. She would find out why demons were attacking her. She would find out who JYP were and why they were interested in her. She would find out the truth about her friends, about Jungeun, about the angels. She would find out the truth about her parents.

And God help anyone who would dare to stand in her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I think this chapter marks a bit of a turning point in the story. Before I've written Haseul has a very passive character, just trying to keep out of this world. But things change and stories develop. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to let me know what you think. 
> 
> Stay safe kiddos.


	19. Chapter 15

Feeling incensed with determination of achieving a new goal, Haseul burst into her home. Residual adrenaline from the fight between herself and her horrible harpy of a step-mother still raced through her veins. Haseul had intended to enter her flat quietly, but that plan was ruined when she accidently slammed the door behind her so fiercely, the wood threatened to crack. 

Vivi stomped out of the kitchen with her hands on her hips. Her expression softened when she saw Haseul. The confusion quickly morphed into concern and sympathy when she saw the state of her housemate. The tell-tale marks of smudged mascara and ruined foundation marred Haseul’s face. The back of her shirt was torn and bloody, as were her jeans. Perhaps most shocking was her lack of coat. Anyone would look at Haseul and know instantly that had just escaped a dangerous situation. 

Despite the cuts all over her body and the cold walk from the station to her flat, Haseul felt no physical toll on her body. She was determined to do what she could before the bizarre energy coursing through her veins disappeared, before the adrenaline wore off. 

“Oh my god, Haseul, are you okay?” Vivi asked, stepping towards her ex-girlfriend. 

“I’m fine,” Haseul said, “Something smells good.”

The Cantonese woman was taken back. With all the blood and cuts, Haseul looked far from fine. 

“I made a Christmas lunch for Jiwoo and Chaewon,” Vivi stammered, “I made quite a lot so you can join if you wish?”

Haseul was tempted to refuse and focus on making plans but her stomach betrayed her. The short woman didn’t get a chance to accept or refuse the lunch invitation because Vivi grabbed her arm and pushed her into the kitchen. She was pushed into a chair and given a plate. Vivi then piled food onto the plate, telling Haseul absently that she hadn’t been eating enough, that was too skinny. Mothering was the last thing Haseul needed, but she was admittedly too hungry to care. 

“Honestly, Haseul,” Vivi said with a laugh, “You keep on adopting all these street kids and I’m the one looking after them,” she teased as she wiped some sauce from Chaewon’s cheek with a napkin. The blonde seemed less than impressed, but her small smile directed at her food suggested otherwise. 

“You’re back early, unnie!” Jiwoo stated the obvious. Haseul shot her a ‘I’ll tell you later look’.

“Yeah, well, my step-mother made it very clear that I’m not welcome in her house,” the short-haired woman declared bitterly. “And it turns out my dad isn’t actually my dad and he’s decided to disown me so there’s that.”

Jiwoo and Chaewon nodded as if that was a normal thing that people said all of the time. Vivi scowled. She reached out to touch Haseul’s hand gently. Haseul was disappointed when her heart skipped a beat. 

“Hey, if you ever want to talk about that, I’m here for you. Being disowned is… hard to get used to,” Haseul’s ex-girlfriend said softly, reminding the short woman that her ex had also been disowned by her father. She didn’t know the details, but she did remember Vivi mentioning something about an email being sent to Vivi’s dad which outed her to him. So that must have been fun. Haseul pulled her hand out from underneath of her ex-girlfriends and smiled awkwardly. 

“It’s fine, really. I didn’t see my dad much anyway. And I’ve already got mum’s fortune so it’s not like I rely on him financially,” Haseul shrugged and began to shovel food into her mouth. Fuck, she hadn’t realised how hungry she was. 

Without saying another word, Haseul inhaled the beautiful food. She ignored the current conversation about Jiwoo’s job and stood to her feet. She washed up her plate and cutlery and stalked off towards her room. She ignored the girls calling out after her. 

Her mind still reeling from everything that had happened, Haseul slammed her door shut and found an old, and empty notebook. She decided to write down everything she knew so far. Her pen hovered above the page. She didn’t know much. Perhaps she should focus on trying to pry information about others from those who might know it. JYP. That was the place to start. 

A knock on the door drew Haseul out of her plotting thoughts. Jiwoo barged into the room. When Haseul turned to glare at the angel, she was struck by her expression. There was no big, beaming smile on her face, but rather a sheepish frown. 

“Haseul unnie? Are you okay? You seem off?” she asked with her hands behind her back.

The short woman spun on her chair.

“I’m great, Jiwoo,” she said sarcastically, “And do you know why?”

“No, because you aren’t telling me,” the angel pouted. Haseul simply grinned and continued to spin on her chair, pettily. She heard Jiwoo sigh. “C’mon, unnie, something happened at your dad’s place. Other than the disownment, please tell me.”

Haseul stopped spinning on her chair. 

“It’s frustrating isn’t it, when no one tells you what the fuck is going on,” she laughed bitterly. Jiwoo shifted uncomfortably. 

“I don’t understand,” she said quietly. 

“I think you do,” Haseul said. She leant forwards and smirked. Jiwoo sat down on the bed and sat on her hands. “Jiwoo, no one tells me anything and it fucking sucks. It sucks, because I’m sure my cluelessness is putting me in danger. Everyone keeps on making little comments about that things and giving cryptic little warnings, but no one says anything outright. No one tells me the truth. Today, the guy who I believed was my dad told that he did a DNA test without my consent and I’m not his kid. And then his fucking wife turned out to be a fucking bird demon and she tried to carry me off to hell.”

Jiwoo remained silent. 

“When all this started happening, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wanted to find a way to make it go away. But it won’t. Things keep happening. I used to just want to bury my head in the sand and hope it all went away and maybe I’d get a cute girlfriend out of it. But no, demons keep attacking me, more things keep on happening, new angels and demons keep on appearing and I’m sick of not understanding anything,” Haseul ranted, she began to pace up and down her room. “Well, that ends today. I’m finding out the truth.”

The angel perched on her bed shuffled and revealed her hands, or rather what she had been carrying behind her back. A small dagger. It seemed to be made of glass with a golden hilt. 

“What the fuck is that?” Haseul asked. 

“This is awkward,” Jiwoo gushed, “Um, this was Chaewon’s. This is what she used to cut her wings off. Very few things can cut through an angel’s wings. Only weapons made in heaven can cause true bodily harm to an angel.” The angel stood and placed the dagger in Haseul’s hands. It was cold and surprisingly heavy. It seemed to pulse with energy that coursed through the metal hilt and into Haseul’s palms. “I want you to cut my wings off.”

“What? No!” Haseul cried. 

“I told you she’d refuse,” Chaewon said drily. Haseul was genuinely surprised by the blonde’s sudden appearance. She grinned smugly. “Unnie, you’re so dense. I’ve been here since ‘Everyone keeps making little comments’.” She deepened her voice in a very poor imitation of Haseul. 

Haseul decided to ignore the blonde. She kept her attention on the woman in front of her. Her tightened around the heavenly weapon.

“Jiwoo, why do you want to cut off your wings? You saw the mess it left Chaewon in,” Haseul pleaded with the determined angel. She stood closer to Haseul and wrapped her hands around Haseul’s hand, the one which was gripping the dagger. 

“Haseul, my name in heaven was Chuu. When angels are cast out from heaven, they are supposed to renounce their past self, choosing a new name helps this. I… wasn’t truly cast out of heaven,” she sighed, “I think part of me thought that if Sooyoung returned my love then my wings would suddenly start working and I- I don’t know- maybe I could have pleaded with the heavens to let us both back in. That’s not going to happen. I need to stop being fucking delusional. I need to let go.”

It was strange hearing the fallen angel swear. Jiwoo looked deep into Haseul eyes as she spoke with startling sincerity, “Haseul, I am no longer Chuu. I am giving up everything which tethers me to that name. That includes Yves and that includes my wings. I want to be Jiwoo, I want to find out who Jiwoo really is and I think my wings are holding me back.”

Haseul mulled it over. She considered the calm sincerity in Jiwoo’s deep eyes. She looked over the smooth material of the blade. 

Well, she didn’t think she’d ever spend time cutting off an angel’s wings, especially not that day, not when she was so focussed on starting her new journey. Maybe this would be the start of her new journey. The short woman smiled. 

“I’ll do it,” she whispered. 

It turns out that Jiwoo and Chaewon were already prepared for Haseul’s answer. A plastic sheet was spread over Haseul’s bed. The angel removed her top and lay face down on the sheet. Chaewon perched next to her and gripped her hand.

“So, we’re just doing this? No preparation? No instructions?” Haseul squeaked. Chaewon raised her eyebrow. 

“It’s easy. All you need to do is slice through the bone as close to the skin as possible. I’ll bandage her back, but the scars should heal over immediately,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in existence. 

“Can we just get this over with?” Jiwoo asked with a shaking voice. 

‘Take a deep breath,’ Haseul told herself. She sucked in a deep breath and released it shakily. She relaxed and then tightened her grip on the hilt of the seraphic dagger. She took one more deep breath, and the grabbed onto Jiwoo’s withered wing.

The urge to pass out was overwhelming. With every breath, it was harder and harder to fight off the blackness. Haseul’s mouth dried out almost immediately. A horrible, yet all too familiar, burnt, metallic taste consumed her mouth. The only thing keeping Haseul conscious was the pounding energy which resonated from the dagger. The energy spread from her hand, up her arm and into her body. Her body began to shake at the same frequency as the dagger’s pounding. 

Haseul was aware that someone was speaking to her, but the words seemed foreign and blurred. All she could hear was words which had been spoken to Jiwoo in heaven. Some of the voices were familiar, there was Sooyoung, Chaewon and that black-haired angel, Olivia. Others were new. They were painful. They were loud. Haseul’s ears began to pound at that now familiar frequency. She could feel something wet slowly dripping down her earlobe. 

A million images flashed in front of Haseul’s eyes. They moved too fast for Haseul to decipher properly. 

She needed to let go of Jiwoo’s wing. She was sure of it. If she let go it would stop. The short woman tried to flex her hand, but her fingers wouldn’t budge. 

There was only one way to stop the pain.

Agonisingly slowly, Haseul pushed the dagger through the reverberating air and laid it at the base of the feathered appendage. With a blind push, she sliced through the bone like a hot knife through butter. 

Haseul dropped both the dagger and the wing with a gasp. The images continued to flash through her brain.

She could finally hear Chaewon shouting at her. 

“You have to do the other one!” she cried. Jiwoo was screaming. Her hands gripped onto the plastic cover so tight her knuckles were white as snow. 

“I can’t,” Haseul wailed. The pounding energy was still reverberating through her body. 

“You have to!” the blonde angel shouted once more. She picked up the dagger and shoved into Haseul’s open hand. “Haseul, you have to!”

Sobbing, the short woman grabbed the remaining wing and yelped in pain. The pounding seemed to become stronger. The voices were getting louder, the images more vibrant. With a loud cry, Haseul quickly cleaved the wing from Jiwoo’s body. She threw the dagger across the room so hard that the dagger became lodged in her wall. She dropped the wing.

The ordeal was over. 

Haseul stood panting. The voices still whispered in her ears, conversations of the past played out in her mind. The images still flashed behind her eyes. 

A silver and gold flame-like energy dissipated from the wounds on Jiwoo’s back. It danced in the air, creating pretty patterns above Jiwoo’s unmoving body. Entranced, Haseul lifted her fingers towards the glistening flames. 

“Haseul, no!”

Her fingers connected with the silver and gold energy. It rushed down her arm and across her chest, leaving a bizarre sensation in its wake. Resounding burning and simultaneous freezing. It struck her heart.

Haseul was unconscious long before she hit the floor. 

Haseul opened her eyes as if she was blinking. The surroundings were blindingly bright. Groggily, she became aware that she was in a garden. She was sat between the roots of a large tree. The branches and leaves hung over her, obscuring her view of the infinite sky. It was surprisingly humane. Vines crept up the tree, the moss at the base acted like a cushion. From the branches hung apples. 

There was someone with her. 

Haseul looked up and saw a winged woman floating towards her. Sooyoung. Or Yves, rather. She wasn’t certain how to refer to the angel. She wore the white robes usually associated with angels. 

Sooyoung landed on the mossy ground and walked towards the body Haseul was in. She slumped down the tree. 

“You said you’d be on time this time,” Haseul spoke with Jiwoo’s voice. 

Sooyoung, or rather Yves, grinned. 

“Chuu, I’ve been here longer than you. It’s my fault you didn’t look up,” her voice was filled with amusement. The body Haseul was in folded her arms and pouted. 

“Haven’t you heard the rumours?” Chuu asked desperately, “I’ve heard they’re considering casting you out.”

Yves shrugged. 

“I deserve it,” she said darkly. 

“No, you don’t!” Haseul cried in Jiwoo’s voice. Yves smiled bitterly. 

“Well, Chuu, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one,” she said. 

Haseul was aware that Chuu couldn’t understand why Yves was being like this. How could she think she was unworthy of heaven? If anyone was unworthy, it would be herself. Chuu was all too aware of how her heavenly heart raced when Yves smiled at her. 

Yves produced an apple from her pocket. Haseul gasped loudly and grasped Yves’ wrist. 

“Yves, what are you doing? You’re not going to eat that, are you?” Haseul cried in Jiwoo’s shrill voice. Yves raised her eyebrow as she stared intensely at the round, red fruit. “If you do, you will surely fall. The Lord will not allow it.”

“I know, Chuu. Relax, I won’t eat it,” Yves laughed. Her intense gaze on the apple never wavered. “I just- why can’t we eat it? Why is knowledge so sinful? What is so inherently evil about asking questions? Of finding the truth? Surely it is natural to want to understand who we are and why we do such things.”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t think you should be asking those kinds of questions. It’s forbidden,” Haseul as Chuu whispered, a hesitant word of warning.

“I am aware of that, but sometimes I desperately want to eat the fruit. I want to know. I want to understand why it’s so sinful. Why we’re forbidden to understand, to question, even to love. I hope that even a little nibble would allow me to understand why love is forbidden. It doesn’t feel sinful. It doesn’t feel evil,” Yves confessed to the fruit. Haseul’s breathe caught in her throat. This angelic apparition was so different to the cynical Sooyoung she knew from Earth. She was so sad, yet her eyes lit up with the powerful flames of hope. Flames that had been seemingly extinguished. 

“I’ve never heard anyone else question why love is sinful,” Chuu whispered. 

Yves smiled, “You understand? I knew you would.”

There was an eerie silence in the garden. Haseul became aware of the lack of wind, the lack of chirping from birds, of rustling leaves. It was unnerving. All she could hear was the quickening beating of the angel’s heart. 

“Chuu, can I try something?” Yves asked tentatively. Haseul nodded her head. “Will you shut your eyes?”

Haseul nodded and immediately closed her eyes. It was amusing to Haseul how Chuu obeyed Yves’ every word. 

A few tense moments passed, and then Haseul felt something graze across Chuu’s lips. Was Yves kissing her? The pressure on Chuu’s lips increased. Holy shit! They were kissing. 

Chuu’s eyes flew open. Through the angel’s eyes, Haseul watches Yves pull away and press her forehead against Chuu’s. Her eyes were full of apprehensive nerves. 

“You’re too good for me,” Yves breathed against Chuu’s lips. “Can- can I kiss you again?”

Haseul’s head dipped and raised ever so slightly in a tentative, wordless nod. 

Chuu’s eyes fluttered closed, obscuring Haseul’s view of the scene. The kiss was tentative. It was Chuu who deepened it as she leant towards Yves, gripping onto the smooth fabric of her robes as if Yves might fly away at moment. The angel’s heart was racing. 

The kiss was messy. Nothing like the kiss Haseul had shared with Sooyoung which had a sense of the calculated precision which came with experience. This kiss was much more like Haseul’s first kiss. It was deep and sloppy. Tongues and teeth clashed. The sloppiness of inexperience was overshadowed by the exploratory passion of lovers embracing for the first time. 

Chuu’s eyes opened as she pulled away from the angel. Haseul saw the lovesick smile on Yves’ face. Her cheeks were flushed red and a beaming smile lit up her face. Her pupils were dilated and her chest was heaving. 

“W-we shouldn’t be doing this. It’s wrong,” Chuu panted. Haseul mentally slapped her forehead. She was rooting for the little angel. Yves’ smile dropped. 

“I know. It doesn’t feel wrong though, not to me,” the angel sighed. “We can stop, if that’s what you want.”

“Do you want to stop?” Chuu asked. 

“No. No, I don’t care if it’s sinful. How can something so real and pure be sinful?” Yves said breathlessly. Haseul had to admit that she was surprised when she felt her body lurch forwards and capture Yves’ lips once more. She was even more surprised when Chuu clambered into Yves’ lap, straddling her waist. 

Haseul began to will her herself to wake up when Chuu’s hands founds themselves of Yves’ clothed breasts. The angel was moaning beneath her. 

“Can I touch you?” Yves breathed against Chuu’s lips. Her eyes still closed, Chuu breathed out a “yes” and reconnected their lips.

Haseul began to actively try to force herself awake when she felt a hand cup Chuu’s privates over her clothes. She could feel the angel surrender to pleasure as Yves’ fingers explored her over her clothes. A finger touched a particularly sensitive region. Chuu’s body shivered with pleasure. It was almost as if the desperate heat building in the angel forced Haseul’s consciousness out of her body. Yves’ hand travelled up from under Chuu’s robes. When her fingers clumsily landed on Chuu’s core, Haseul’s consciousness came crashing out of her body. 

When Haseul’s eyes burst open, bring her back to reality, she found herself on her bedroom floor with Jiwoo and Chaewon looking down at her. Haseul’s head was still pounding, it was as if the bizarre energy that entered her had yet to leave. She was shaking, she knew that. That all too familiar metallic taste filled her mouth. And, as much as she hated to admit it, her vision of Jiwoo and Sooyoung had left her flustered. 

“Jiwoo! You shagged Sooyoung in the garden of Eden! I thought you hadn’t even been kissed?” Haseul exclaimed. 

“The garden of what now?” that was Vivi’s voice. Shocked, Haseul slammed her hand over her mouth and looked at her roommate. She was entering Haseul’s room with a glass of water in hand. She set it beside the younger woman awkwardly. The Cantonese woman laughed at Haseul’s expression and smiled softly, “Relax, Haseul. Jiwoo and Chaewon told me about them being angels, and how you helped Jiwoo when she fell.”

Haseul scowled and looked at the pair of fallen angels suspiciously. 

“I mean, she heard all the screaming and walked in on you cutting Jiwoo’s wing off and passing out,” the blonde angel shrugged, “We kind of had to after that.”

“You’re so calm, how are you so calm?” Haseul questioned her ex, who smiled and dipped her head. 

“She definitely was not calm when she saw you pass out. I’ve never been threatened with a spoon before,” Chaewon chuckled wryly. Vivi’s cheeks turned red. 

Suddenly a bright light enveloped Haseul’s bedroom. Haseul winced and covered her eyes. She heard the surprised whisper come from Chaewon.

“Olivia Hye.”

Haseul slowly uncovered her eyes. Both Jiwoo and Chaewon were fixated on the figure floating in front of Haseul’s open window. She was familiar, yet different somehow. Long, black tresses framed either side of the angel’s beautiful yet furious face. Her unfurled wings took up the entire of Haseul’s room. It was strange seeing an angel with wings so dark they were almost black. It seemed unnatural, wrong. Yet the same gold and silver light radiated off her pulsing skin. She seemed less than impressed with the whole situation. Her dark, shining eyes scanned over the scene before her. They hovered for a long time over the bloody sheet which lay on Haseul’s bed. 

“What’s going on? What are you looking at?” Vivi asked, she looked wildly around the room, searching for something she couldn’t see. 

“The human cannot see or hear me unless I decide to show myself,” Olivia announced. Her voice reverberated around the room.

“Vivi-unnie, I think you should leave. We’ll explain later,” Jiwoo said, her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence. She seemed to be transfixed by the apparition in Haseul’s room. Evidently confused, the human scuttled out of the room, the door was closed behind her. 

“You know, it’s rude to keep on barging into people’s bedrooms,” Haseul declared as she stood up, folding her arms in a show of defiance. She swore to god she was fucking sick of people showing up in her room and causing chaos and upset. First this angel, then the dream people, then the dream girl who choked her, Jiwoo and now this fucking angel again. Did angels and demons think that they were above general etiquette and politeness? 

“What did you want me to do? Knock on the window?” the angel snorted sarcastically. “Stand down, sinner, I’m here on heavenly business. Just give me the wings and the seraphic dagger and I shall take my leave.”

The angel stretched out her hand and tilted her head slightly. Her triangular lips pressed together to form an angry pout. 

“Olivia Hye…” Chaewon breathed out as she stood to her feet and approached the floating figure. Her hand rested on the angel’s forearm. Olivia Hye turned head, looking away from the blonde girl. “I’ve missed you.”

The angel’s eyebrows twitched.

“Olivia Hye, please look at me. I can’t bear it when you’re mad at me,” Chaewon pleaded, tugging at the sleeve of the angel’s silver robes. 

Defiantly looking at the ceiling, the angel spoke. Her voice was low and shook with fury.

“You left me,”

“Oli, please, surely you must understand that I had to leave. I realised the hypocrisies of heaven and I had to leave. I had to-”

“You left me. I begged you to stay, begged you not to leave and you left me for a bunch of sinners,” the angel spat. “Give me the wings and the dagger. The heavens want them back.” she repeated demandingly.

Haseul and Jiwoo exchanged a frightened look when Chaewon pressed her face against the angel’s stomach, hugging her waist tightly. 

“Olivia, you don’t have to go back. You can stay here… with me,” the blonde said hopefully. Olivia Hye’s face twisted. 

“And spend my days consorting with sinners, I think not,” she hissed. The angel unwrapped Chaewon’s arms from around her waist. “There’s a war coming. A great war between the holy and damned. The human realm will be caught in the crossfire and anyone outside of the heavens will surely perish. Gowon, you could come with me. If you apologise they might let you back in Eden, they might restore you to your former glory.”

“I don’t want that,” Chaewon cried. 

“Then perish,” Olivia Hye snarled. The blonde fell to her knees, her eyes unfocussed and glassy. The furious angel turned her burning eyes back to Haseul and Jiwoo. “The wings and the dagger. Now.” 

Jiwoo scrambled to her feet and picked up the feathered appendages which lay on the floor. She handed the broken, battered wings to the floating angel, who held them both in one hand. 

“The dagger’s in the wall behind you,” Haseul said sheepishly, clearing her throat stiffly. The angel scowled. She furled her wings as her bare feet touched the ground. She turned to face the seraphic weapon. Her fingers wrapped around the dagger and she pulled. The dagger did not move an inch. With a growl, the angel yanked on the weapon, but it was firmly lodged in the wall. 

Seemingly embarrassed, the angel turned back to Haseul and Jiwoo.

“Well, I’ll have to go without the dagger I suppose,” she mumbled. Quite a change from the usual fiercely demanding persona. “Right, well, have fun burning in hell.”

The angel turned to leave Haseul’s room the same way she came in, through the window. 

“Oli, wait,” Chaewon cried as she scrambled to her feet. She grabbed the angel’s sleeve and pulled her towards herself. Her fingers embraced the angel’s confused face and she gently pulled her face towards her own. Haseul looked away when Chaewon pressed her lips against the angel’s. When she glanced back, Chaewon was pulling away. 

The angel’s eyes wide open, her lips parted in confusion and her cheeks dusted with red. The blonde’s hands remained on her glowing cheeks. 

“Olivia,” the blonde whispered. The voice seemed to break the angel out of her stupor. Her features contorted with rage and she pushed the blonde away, striking her squarely in the chest. Chaewon was flung across the bedroom, slamming harshly against Haseul’s bedroom wall. 

The angel’s eyes widened with shock. She glanced between the crumpled blonde and her own outstretched hand as if she couldn’t believe what she had just done. She glanced once more at the silent Jiwoo and stared into Haseul’s eyes. The poor angel was nothing more than a frightened kid. 

Before Haseul could reach out to her, the angel disappeared through the open window.

There was a moment of silence, a moment of calm, before the chaos resumed. 

Vivi burst back into Haseul’s room and immediately began fussing over the fallen blonde, who seemed to be more in shock than anything. Jiwoo was panicking, that was clear. She stalked around the bedroom, burning a hole in the carpets. Haseul drowned out her panicked talking, her eyes were focussed on something else entirely. 

The dagger. 

She felt like the dagger was calling out to her. Its energy was unlike anything Haseul had ever experienced before. 

Haseul circled the bed and approached the heavenly weapon. Slowly, she raised her hand and wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the embedded weapon. The energy coursed through her once more, then the pounding settled. She took a deep breath and slowly, gently, pulled the dagger towards her. The glassy material slid out of the wall inch by inch until it was fully unsheathed. 

And just like that, the room returned to normal. The three women were all staring at Haseul, their eyes burning into her skin. Haseul turned to face the other women and grimaced. 

“So that’s a thing,” she remarked dumbly. 

There was more silence. 

“Erm, I feel like this might be the wrong time to mention this,” Vivi said slowly, “But Heejin and Hyunjin are coming around for Christmas cake.”

Haseul felt like screaming. 

The atmosphere was tense and awkward. The six girls sat around the table in the kitchen eating Christmas cake in silence. Haseul was watching Heejin, taking in her bedraggled appearance. Her friend looked pale, paler than usual. Her eyes were dull and the bags under her eyes were darker than her black hair. She looked thin, a little boney even. Haseul thought Heejin looked sick. 

Heejin, meanwhile, was staring at Jiwoo and Chaewon. She was frowning at them, but her expression was otherwise unreadable. She ate the cake slowly and thoughtfully.

Both of the fallen angels avoided Heejin’s intense stare and flicked their eyes between the cake, Haseul and Vivi.

Vivi was glancing between all the other women. Her eyes seemed to awkwardly pause on Hyunjin, perhaps because she was the only other normal one at the table. 

Hyunjin was staring at the cake in the centre of the table, having wolfed down her first peace. 

“Is anyone going to have seconds?” the cat-like girl asked obliviously, pointing at the cake. 

Vivi immediately busied herself with cutting off another slice and convincing the other girls to have another piece as well. 

“Maybe we should move into the living room and watch TV. Just relax a bit. Hyunjin, isn’t your favourite show about to start?” Vivi asked, her voice falsely bright.

“Ugh, I guess,” 

Vivi clapped her hands together, “Great, let’s move into the living room. Haseul can you make tea for us all?”

“Sure,” Haseul grumbled, “Heejin, will you give me a hand?”

The sickly-looking girl nodded stiffly while the rest of the women took their cake into the living room. The sound of the TV soon began blast through the air. The two women left in the kitchen got on with their task.

Eventually Heejin cleared her throat delicately.

“What do you want to say, Haseul? You’ve been staring at me all afternoon,” she said, a little harshly. Haseul sighed and stared down at the tea cups. Starting this next conversation was a delicate process. 

“Heejin, are you happy?” she asked. Heejin was taken aback, letting out a deep ‘huh’. She was so taken aback that she didn’t answer. That was the only response Haseul needed. “Heejin, what has JYP being doing to you?”

The pale girl took on a defensive stance, a frown decorated her features, making her look even more exhausted and ill.

“Nothing bad,” Heejin said defensively. 

“Heejin, you look ill. You’re pale and too skinny and you just look exhausted. What have you been doing there? And I know you’ve spending all your time at JYP, Hyunjin is sad because she never sees you. Is whatever you’re doing there worth putting your relationship at risk?” Haseul asked softly, her voice full of compassion. She put her hand on Heejin’s arm, but she shrugged it off. 

“I’m fine, unnie. And Hyunjin and I are doing just fine, thank you very much,” Heejin snapped defensively. Haseul scowled. 

“Heejin you are clearly not fine, you look like you might pass out at any moment,” Haseul hissed, trying to keep her voice quiet so the women in the front room couldn’t hear them. 

“What is this really about, Haseul?” Heejin asked, “Something has clearly happened to you. Are you regretting not coming with me to JYP?”

Haseul couldn’t fight back the short laugh, “Of course not, I don’t trust JYP and I still don’t think you should. Have they even told you what’s wrong with you?”

The younger girl turned red and huffed loudly. 

“Nothing is wrong with me!” she exclaimed. The short haired woman immediately regretted her choice of words. “And no.”

Haseul narrowed her eyes, “Jeon Heejin, either you are lying to me or they are keeping something seriously important from you.”

The pale girl sighed sharply. Her hand tightened around the tea cup was holding. The fancy china shattered in her grip, spilling fresh, hot tea all over her hand. 

Haseul leapt into action and thrust Heejin’s hand under the cold tap. The injured woman made no noise, she simply gritted her teeth and shrugged off Haseul’s hands. 

“Come on, Heejin, talk to me,” Haseul pleaded. 

And then Heejin exploded. 

“Shut up, Haseul! Just shut up!” she growled through gritted teeth. “Stop your whole ‘holier than thou’ bullshit, we both know it’s fake. You haven’t spoken to me for weeks and now you’re all concerned and worried? Bullshit. You only come to me when you want something and that’s how our friendship works.”

“Heejin? I didn’t know you felt this way? You could have come to me for anything, you know that,” Haseul said softly. Heejin scoffed. “What’s going on with you? Is it JYP? I knew we couldn’t trust them.”

“Knew you couldn’t trust them? Haseul you got your information from a fucking demon! That monster is the one you can’t trust!” Heejin spat, keeping her voice low enough that the TV drowned out their argument. 

Haseul felt like she’d been punched in the chest, “Jungeun?” she whispered pathetically. 

“Yes, your precious Jungeun who turns up just at the right time and torments your dreams. Well, newsflash, JYP aren’t the bad guys, Jungeun is. She’s a demon,” Heejin sneered. Haseul had never seen her friend lash out like this. Heejin was a crier, not a shouter. 

“And who told you that? JYP?” Haseul retorted. The pale girl beside her smirked triumphantly. 

“No, unnie, I found out for myself,” Heejin growled, “When I touched that ball you gave me, I had a vision. I saw, from Jungeun’s eyes, a massive slaughtering. I saw Jungeun thrust her sword into the stomachs of several angels, I heard her laugh when they died. I know it was Jungeun, because someone called her name. Do you know what happened in my vision? I saw Jungeun enter the home of a defenceless angel. I saw her steal a mirror. And then she grabbed the hair of the unarmed angel and raised her sword, ready to murder an innocent. Your beloved Jungeun is a cold-blooded murderer.”

“You’re wrong, she can’t be a demon,” Haseul cried desperately. 

“Well, she is. She must be. I have demon blood and I can see visions of demons, so you know what that means!” Heejin laughed sourly. She realized what she had said and cleared her throat. 

“You have demon blood? Are you part demon or something?” Haseul asked, homing in on that fact as a distraction. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Heejin growled. She turned off the tap and dried off her hands. “And in case you were wondering, because you’re such a good friend. The little church girl that looks like your sister, she’s in a coma. She’s being kept in JYP’s hospital.”

“She what? You didn’t think to tell me this sooner?” Haseul screeched. 

“Well, you were a bit busy moping,” Heejin sneered. The older woman growled and folded her arms. 

“Well, considering that tomorrow will mark the four-year anniversary of my mum fucking committing suicide in front of me, I think I’m aloud to be mopey at Christmas,” Haseul spat. 

To be fair, Heejin did look regretful. Her expression softened and her eyes seemed sad. Her arm twitched as if she was going to reach out to her older friend. However, Heejin was stubborn as a mule, and Haseul wasn’t much better. 

“I think I should leave,” Heejin finally said. 

“I think you should,” the older woman agreed darkly. 

Sighing, Heejin turned on her heel and stalked into the living room. 

“Hyunjin, we’re leaving,” she announced. 

The cat-like girl raised her eyebrows. 

“But, I’m not ready to leave yet. I was telling Chaewon about my favourite breads,” Hyunjin whined. 

“Well, I’m leaving so you can either stay or come with me,” Heejin declared harshly. Hyunjin blinked. She stood to her feet and said goodbye to the girls around her. When she reached Haseul, she hugged her and whispered in her ear, apologizing on Heejin’s behalf. Haseul hugged the younger girl tightly, it wasn’t her fault that her girlfriend was behaving like a dick. 

The short woman watched the pair leave, even watching them walk away from their building through the window. It looked as if the couple was fighting as they walked. Her heart wrenched, she hoped she didn’t cause or a catalyse a break up. 

Haseul knew in her heart that Heejin was hurt, that something was happening to her and she was lashing out at Haseul. But she had said things to intentionally hurt Haseul, and she didn’t think that was okay. It’s not okay. 

The short woman suddenly remembered what Heejin had told her. Yeojin. 

Haseul made her way towards the door, glad that she had had the sense to change out of her ripped and bloody clothes. 

“Hey, Seulie, where are you going?” Vivi asked. 

“Out. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” Haseul said sharply. 

It was Jiwoo who spoke up, “Haseul unnie, today has been a lot. Don’t you think you should rest and, like, absorb everything and figure out what’s been going on?”

“No, I’m fine,” Haseul said firmly. Her stubbornness really was dangerous. 

She grabbed her coat from the wall and stalked out of the apartment. Her roommates could only watch her leave in stunned silence. 

Haseul suspected that it might have been her aura of fury that made the receptionist buzz her through. The JYP building was very close to the church, the sign over the door read ‘Jolly Youth Practice’. Hiding in plain sight, Haseul did respect that. When she walked in, she demanded to know where Yeojin was. The receptionist refused at first, but she soon changed her mind and told Haseul where Yeojin was being kept, even buzzing her through.

The building really did look like a doctor’s practice. There were offices that looked like doctor’s rooms lining the corridors. There was a separate wing full of rooms that looked like hospital wards. Some rooms had many beds, some only had one. 

Yeojin was in a private room. Haseul felt her heart in her mouth when she glanced into the room.

The poor girl was laying out flat on the hospital bed. There was a monitor beside the bed that was linked up to the small girl. At least her heart beat was steady.

As Haseul pushed open the door quietly, she noticed that there was someone in the room already. They were sat with their back to Haseul, their head pressed into the sheets at Yeojin’s feet. She could hear the stranger whimpering into Yeojin’s sheets as she got closer. The voice was a little too familiar. Heejin’s words lingered in her mind.

Once she had cleared her throat, Haseul stepped closer and stood beside the unconscious girl’s bed. 

“Jungeun,” Haseul greeted sternly. The woman in question removed her face from the bleached white sheets and wiped her cheeks with her back of her hand. “Come here often?”

“As often as I can, I’ve been here every day since Yule began,” the woman sniffled as she pushed back her brown hair and smiled sadly. 

“You said we’d see each other again at Yule,” Haseul mused. Jungeun hummed.

“I did try to find you, to see you sooner, but I couldn’t find you,” she practically whimpered. Haseul glanced down at the sitting woman and raised her eyebrow.

“That’s because I was out of town until today,” the short haired woman revealed. She sat down on the uncomfortable plastic chair next to Yeojin’s bed. Full of hope, she reached out and held the teenager’s hand. It was warm, but limp. She squeezed it gently, and tried not to be disappointed when Yeojin didn’t squeeze back. 

“Travelling on Christmas Day? That’s risky,” Jungeun said in the playful tone she often spoke with.

“Maybe. But my dad’s wife turned out to be demon so I wasn’t staying there any longer,” Haseul said nonchalantly. Jungeun frowned and looked down at her hands. “Jungeun, I thought you weren’t fond of JYP.”

“They don’t know I’m here,” the brunette grinned mischievously. She shook her head as her smile turned bitter, “No, I’m here for Yeojin.” Haseul glanced at the other woman as if to ask how she knew the girl. Jungeun sighed. “I… it’s complicated but I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to help her and protect her and make things easy for her. Clearly, I did a great job of that.” She licked her lips, then turned to Haseul, “How do you know this little scamp?”

Haseul folded her arms, “I met her at Church. She came to bother me when I was crying. Not really sure if she came to laugh or if she came to help me. She looks so much like my dead sister.” Haseul whispered the last part. 

There was silence that filled the eerie hospital room. Haseul grasped Yeojin’s hand with her other hand and willed the poor girl to get better. She sincerely hoped that whatever had happened to her wasn’t painful or traumatic. However, the sources of comas do tend to be painful and traumatic in some shape or form. 

“Jungeun, can I ask you something? And will you promise me that you’ll tell me the truth?” Haseul asked, still grasping onto Yeojin’s limp hand. 

“Sure,” the brunette replied, her voice barely a whisper. Haseul sighed then turned to face the other woman, connecting their eyes. 

“My friend Heejin told me of a vision she had when she touched something which belonged to you. She said that she saw you walking through the heavens, murdering angels,” Haseul said casually.

Jungeun’s eyebrows furrowed together. Her eyes flickered downwards, disconnecting her intense eye contact with Haseul. Her shoulders slumped. 

“Jungeun, are you a demon?”

It took a few moments of tense, unbearable silence for Jungeun to answer. She sighed. 

“Haseul, I didn’t want to you to find out this way,” she whined. Haseul backed away from Jungeun. 

“So, you are a demon,” Haseul said, her voice was low. 

Jungeun stood up and took a step towards Haseul, her hands reached out for her. The poisonous look on Haseul’s face was enough to make her back away.

“I mean, kind of? Yes? Well, I used to be,” Jungeun stammered, her whole face was turning red. 

“Used to be?” Haseul cried. Jungeun began to wring her wrists nervously.

“Can we talk about this properly? Somewhere other than here? I don’t think it’s safe for us here,” she asked, her eyes flicked between Haseul and the door. 

The furious short woman wrinkled her nose and frowned. She hoped she looked intimidating rather than cute. She wasn’t good at looking scary.

“What? Do you want time to come up with a lie? Do you want to take me a private place and murder me like you murdered those angels?” Haseul spat. Jungeun visibly flinched.

“Haseul, I’m not proud of my past. And I was going to tell you about myself, and what I’ve done. That’s what I was going to tell you in the dream realm, I promise! I didn’t mean to hurt you! That’s the opposite of what I want to do, I have to protect you Haseul,” Jungeun blurted. 

“Clearly, you’re doing a really good job of protecting me, Jungeun,” Haseul drawled sarcastically, “Hell, I’ve been strangled in my dreams. Just today I was attacked by a fucking demon. Where were you when I was fighting for my life?”

Jungeun lowered her head sheepishly, “I can’t help you when I am in human form, it renders me powerless. Had I been there-”

“Well, you weren’t, were you?” Haseul spat. All Jungeun could do in response was shake her head. Haseul sighed and sat down, taking Yeojin’s limp hand back into her own.

“Get out of my sight, Jungeun. I don’t want to see you again,” Haseul said, her voice low and dark, the tone commanding. 

“Haseul, won’t you at least let me explain who and what I am? Please,” the brunette pleaded, “I like you, Haseul. I feel this weird connection to you that I haven’t felt with anyone else. Ever since I first saw you, I felt the urge to protect you. Whether it is my divine purpose or my own feelings driving me, I want to see you safe, I want to see you happy.”

“Do you know what will make me happy? You leaving me alone,” Haseul said, sulkily. 

Jungeun hung her head and shuffled towards the door. As she reached the threshold, with her hand on the door handle, she turned back to Haseul.

“I will respect your wishes and I will stay away. But, Haseul, understand this. I will always protect you. I have no choice in the matter. I’m sorry,” she said sincerely. Haseul didn’t respond, she kept her eyes trained on Yeojin’s pale, sleeping face. While she fought to keep the tears threatening to fall from streaming down her heated cheeks, Haseul listened for the opening and closing of the door. Only once she heard the door click shut did Haseul even dare to turn around. Jungeun was gone. Maybe for forever. 

Haseul sighed and turned back to Yeojin. She stroked the comatose girl’s cheek.

“Oh, Yeojin,” she said to the girl, “I feel like my life is falling apart. Everyone I love has left me or hates me. My sister disappeared. My mum is fucking dead. My dad wants nothing to do with me, although I suppose I should stop calling him my dad. Heejin hates me so I’ll probably never see Hyunjin again either. I barely speak to Vivi, not since we stopped sleeping together. Like, I get that it probably helped us get over each other but I miss having her as a friend. You- you’re in a coma and I didn’t even get to know you. And Jungeun, well. I thought we had something, something special. I don’t know, I just felt like we connected instantly and I… I could see myself falling in love with her. But she lied to me, she lied to me, Yeojin. And… even if I did hear her out, I doubt she’d want anything to do with me, not after how I just treated her! Ugh, why am I like this?”

Haseul could have sworn that she felt Yeojin’s hand tighten around hers. Her heart racing, Haseul looked up towards the heart monitor. But there was no change, no indication that Yeojin might be waking up. Disappointed, Haseul choked and let out an ugly sob. 

A gentle clearing of the throat made Haseul sit up and force herself to regain composure. 

She turned around, sharp enough to hurt her neck a little. A woman was stood behind Haseul. She wasn’t particularly tall, but had a good couple of inches on Haseul. Her delicate features were drawn into a frown. Her pretty face was framed by a few strands of black hair which escaped her professional pony tail. She must have been a doctor, she wore a pristine, white lab coat and carried some medical apparatus in her hands. 

“Excuse me, miss,” the woman said in a soft, quiet voice that was decorated with a Japanese accent, “I’m here to check on my patient. Would you mind standing back?”

Haseul nodded stiffly and clambered to her feet. She stood in the corner of the room and watched as the doctor began to do routine checks on her patient, checking her pulse and changing the IV bag. 

While the doctor was working, Haseul let her eyes wander. A glint of purple made Haseul turn to the mirror in the far corner of the room. She wondered who put a mirror in a hospital room, probably someone seriously vain. 

It didn’t take Haseul long to realise that the reflection shown in the mirror did not belong to Haseul. Nor did it belong to the doctor or Yeojin. Rather it belonged to a girl with a youthful face, dark hair and one, glowing purple eye. Haseul scowled and silently, slowly began to approach the mirror. What was her name again, this Odd Eye who was Jinsoul’s buddy? Cherry, was it? No, Choerry. 

Choerry’s face was in the mirror. Her odd gaze was focussed on the girl in the hospital bed. Her expression was soft, there was even a small smile on her face. How strange, Haseul mused. Something must have alerted the girl to Haseul’s presence. The reflection turned to face Haseul, their eyes locking. She seemed genuinely surprised, her jaw dropped and her mismatched eyes widened. Before Haseul could say or do anything, the face disappeared suddenly. Haseul stared back at her own face. Fuck, she looked awful.

The short haired woman turned her attention back to the doctor. The woman was now drawing blood from Yeojin. Haseul wandered if the doctor could see the strange orange flashes within the red liquid itself. 

“What do you need a blood sample for?” Haseul asked, trying her hardest to sound politely curious rather than angry and demanding. The other woman jumped and dropped the, thankfully sealed, vial of blood. Haseul darted forwards uselessly, but the doctor caught the vial with a sharp and accurate dart of her hand. “Good reflexes,” Haseul commented. 

“Thank you,” the doctor said graciously, “I have to take bloods as part of the usual check-up routine.” The Japanese woman placed the vials of blood into a very small cooler bag. She zipped it up with careful precision. As she stood, she removed her medical gloves and held a delicate hand out towards Haseul. “Jo Haseul, I presume?” 

Haseul shook her hand politely with a frown. The doctor noticed and smiled with a sweet giggle. 

“The receptionist told me Miss Im had a visitor,” she said, “Dr Myoui.”

“So, you work for Jolly Youth Practice then?” Haseul asked suspiciously. 

“Please, Miss Jo, you don’t have to feign innocence. I have heard about Jo Haseul’s refusal of help from JYP. You’re very special, Miss Jo. I hope you understand that. Many people would love to have someone like you on their side,” the doctor said, her lips quirked upwards in amusement. All Haseul could do was stare at the woman dumbly. 

“What happened to Yeojin? And why is she here and not in a normal hospital?” Haseul demanded, not seeing the point in feigning innocence and politeness. Dr Myoui pushed a few strands of hair from her face.

“Well, that’s a difficult question, Miss Jo,”

“Call me Haseul,”

“Very well, Haseul. JYP has always cared for Miss Im’s health. What happened to her is a long story. Perhaps you would like to join me in my office? We can talk more freely there,” Dr Myoui proposed softly. Haseul narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “I understand you have no reason to trust me, other than my word. I won’t harm you, Haseul. We’re not the bad guys, here.”

“Fine,” Haseul agreed half-heartedly. She decided to keep her guard up. However, at this moment in time, Haseul was hell-bent on finding out any information she could. Perhaps learning about JYP and Yeojin would help her learn about herself. Maybe she could find a way to do some snooping. 

Haseul followed the doctor out of Yeojin’s hospital room and down the halls. They reached an elevator. Haseul took a deep breath as the elevator set off on its descent.

Dr Myoui’s office was small. There was barely enough space for a desk, a couple of sets of draws and two chairs. It felt cramped, uncomfortable. The walls were bare, save for the cleared whiteboard. Dr Myoui quietly settled by a mini fridge which was set on top of one of the sets of draws. Haseul peeked inside when the door was opened and saw that it contained two trays of blood samples. The doctor placed Yeojin’s blood samples in one tray and replaced the vials with blood samples from the other tray. The cooler bag was closed once more and set on top of the doctor’s desk. Haseul noticed the name badge on the doctor’s table. ‘Myoui Mina’. Haseul wandered if the woman had a PhD or if doctor was more of an informal title.

“Let me show you something,” Myoui Mina said gently.

The good doctor drew a book out from a draw beneath her desk. She smiled at it fondly and opened the first page, sliding the slim book towards Haseul. It was some sort of photo album, it seemed. 

There was a picture of nine girls. Haseul picked out Mina immediately, despite the red hair which the girl in the picture seemed to hide behind. All of the girls were wearing variants of the same black leather outfit. She also picked out a younger version of Pastor Kim. The girl in that picture had that same beaming smile, but her cheeks were full and youthful. Her hair was brown at the top and red and orange at the bottom, a far cry from the blonde locks she currently sported. Of course, it was hard not to notice Tzuyu in the photo. The girl was taller than the others, but she must have grown a foot since the photo was taken. 

The rest of the girls in the photo were half familiar. Haseul drew the book closer to herself so she could examine the photo. She recognised the girl with long, blonde hair who wore a leather body suit. There was also Sana, Pastor Kim’s flirtatious girlfriend. She was another one who looked the same, only the hairstyle was different. In the picture it was long and light, now it was shorter and darker. Her tail was wrapped around the leg of the girl next to her. That girl was fairly tall and had very short hair. She looked rather grumpy. Haseul realised with a start that she had met her briefly before, although she couldn’t remember her name. 

The only other girl she vaguely recognised was the girl in the middle. She must have been the leader. The others she didn’t recognise were a short girl with short hair and a youthful grin and an ageless looking woman with red eyes. 

“The Twice initiative,” Mina said with a sigh. “JYP likes to gather groups of people with different skills and send them on missions. We were his latest investment. Lightning never strikes the same place twice, it didn’t need to. We were too good. Of course we were, we went through a cut throat process to get to where we were.”

Haseul let the doctor speak. She flicked over to the next page. There was a picture of the nine girls wearing cheerleader costumes. Mina smiled fondly. 

“We were an experiment. We were a collection of humans, demons and cambions. JYP wanted a nephilim and fairy too but he couldn’t source them. Sooman, the king of the fey, wouldn’t allow JYP to have one of his own and any stray fairies refused to join us,” Mina frowned for a moment. Haseul turned the page again. There was a badly taken picture of two of the girls posing in front of a caged monster. “We ended up as a team of nine. There was the leader, Park Jihyo, a human, a prodigy. She joined JYP as a kid. There was Im Nayeon, a higher demon who had been ‘reprogrammed’ by JYP himself. She could charm her way into anything. Yoo Jeongyeon, the technician. Could make a fully functioning gun out of Lego. Then there was Momo, the human muscle. And then Sana, a Cambion, another charmer. She often used her attractiveness to her advantage, and did a very poor job of pretending to be straight when we first met her. There was the youngest two, Chaeyoung and Dahyun. They had come as a pair, thick as thieves they were. Well, they had started as thieves. Tzuyu was actually the youngest, despite being a cambion. You wouldn’t know it just by looking at her. None of us knew how tall she’d get.”

Mina turned the page for Haseul. There was a picture of Mina smiling shyly. Her hair was blonde, the fringe still covered part of her face. She had bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to her back. She had a gun in each hand. One was a shotgun, one was a sniper rifle. 

“And then there was me. I was the ‘master marksman’. I could shoot anything with terrifying accuracy. They called me the black swan. I never missed,” the doctor scowled. Her eyes were a little distant. 

“We, the Twice initiative, had a simple task at first. Capture demons and reprogram them. If they resisted reprogramming we’d experiment on them and kill them. JYP told us they were soulless creatures incapable of love and kindness. We believed them. Even Nayeon, a demon herself, saw herself incapable of virtuous feelings,” Mina’s scowl deepened. “We saw so many horrible things in the field. I killed so many demons just because they were demons. And then I had a mental breakdown. I tried to return to the field by my anxiety was so bad I couldn’t even aim. My only talent was gone.”

“I’m so sorry,” Haseul breathed. Mina flicked through the pages of the photo album quickly. She stopped on one, a picture of the short girl with short hair kissing Mina’s forehead. 

“Chaeyoung, my girlfriend, helped me through it. It was clear I couldn’t go back into the field so I focussed elsewhere. I joined the science division. And thats when I learnt what we were really doing. I pretended to accept the dark side of JYP while doing my best to protect those who were at risk from the harm the company does. I’m afraid I haven’t done very well,” the doctor chuckled bitterly. 

Haseul continued to flick through the pictures, “What happened to the rest of the Twice initiative?” 

Mina shrugged, “We’re still Twice, and we’ll always be Twice. However, we all have our own tasks given to us by JYP. Jihyo’s in a position of power. Tzuyu’s helping train the new kids, cambions like herself. Jeongyeon never leaves the labs. The others still go out on missions but they’re not supposed to tell me what they do. Chaeyoung just can’t keep her mouth shut.”

Haseul was careful with the wording of her next question.

“So, JYP, what does the company actually do?”

Mina smiled, “I told you we’re not the bad guys and I mean it. We’re not. Originally the division was created to ‘even the playing field’. There is a war coming between heaven and hell, but no one knows how soon. JYP was created to learn about demonic and angelic powers and learn how to transfer to humans. In olden days they used to experiment on all sorts of beings. Now it’s more ethical. We’re trying to prevent the war while recruiting powerful ones to protect humanity. Of course there is still work to give humans the power to protect themselves.”

Haseul didn’t know what to think. She let the words wash over her. 

“What does that have to do with Yeojin?” she asked finally. Mina’s expression saddened. 

“I- well. Here’s the thing. Yeojin is... special. She is a certain type of being. We call them Odd Eyes,” Mina began to explain. Haseul frowned. 

“I know what Odd Eyes are,” she said shortly. “But Yeojin’s human.”

“For now,” the doctor said mysteriously, “You see, we believe from our research that Odd Eyes are born human and turn into these higher beings when their Odd Eye is activated.” She began to fetch another item from her draws. She drew out two files. One was a green file with ragged corners. There was an unfamiliar symbol on the front. The corner had ‘O.E.I’ inscribed in it. The other file contained all of JYP’s information regarding one Im Yeojin. 

“You see,” Mina began to explain, “Before there was JYP, there was a sub-division if the company called the Odd Eye Initiative. They tortured those beings in the name of scientific experimentation. They came to few conclusions about those beings. Many were killed, or killed themselves to escape the torture. All we knew for certain is that the Odd Eyes were once human and that they were the ones responsible for the infamous massacre of the heavens. They seemed to be proud of that.”

Haseul opened the file and suppressed a gasp. There was a photo on the first page of the people who worked on the project. There seemed to be around fifteen in total. Some were dressed in lab coats, others in military outfits. One woman was the spitting image of Haseul herself. It was like staring at a picture of herself. 

“Mother,” Haseul whispered. Her fingers traced the outline of her mother’s pictured face. It was stoney and grave, nothing new there. 

“You seem to take after your mother,” the doctor said with a chuckle, “She was quite famous here you know. Well, infamous really. She set free the last two Odd Eyes, as well as JYP’s prized possession. A captured Seraph. There were rumours that she was sleeping with all the captured angels and demons and that when she left, she was pregnant with the devil’s child.”

Haseul knew even less about her mother than she thought she did. Haseul turned the page and found herself staring at another two familiar faces. One with a blue eye and one with a purple eye. Jung Jinsol, aka Jinsoul, and Choi Yerim, aka Choerry. The experiments performed on them and information gained was listed beneath their names and pictures. When Haseul flicked through the rest of the Odd Eyes, she noted that those two were the only ones without death dates scribbled next to their faces. 

Mina continued to talk. Haseul wondered if she’d been able to talk to anyone recently, it felt like she was confessing everything to Haseul. She did seem to sit straighter with every word, like a burden was removed from her shoulders. 

“We found Yeojin when she was a kid. Her Odd Eye activated early. The energy she was releasing was so destructive it threatened to destroy her whole house and herself along with it. The group before us saved her before she could do any real damage. She was in a coma for several weeks and she was human when she awoke. She couldn’t remember anything. JYP decided not to return her to her family, it was too dangerous he said. Instead he seemed to focus his energy on reactivating her Odd Eye. He became her legal guardian meaning that if she became an Odd Eye, he could restart the Odd Eye program without having to worry about consent since her consent would be referred to him. I tried to force her to repress her activation but I couldn’t stop it.”

Haseul’s hands began to shake. She opened Yeojin’s file. Most of the papers were blood test results. There was one document which confirmed Mina’s words. Others detailed the reactivation process, all of those were signed off by Park Jihyo. There was one particular document which caught Haseul’s eye. A birth certificate. 

Unable to stop herself, Haseul drew the document from the file. Her eyes scanned over the all too familiar names of the parents. 

The name of the child:

Jo Hajin. 

Haseul’s dead sister. 

Rage exploded out of Haseul like a furious tsunami. She picked up the file and threw it against the wall. Unable to control her fury, the fuming woman turned to the frightened doctor. 

“Dr Myoui,” Haseul growled, her voice low and crackling with danger, “Seven years ago my sister went missing. I was supposed to be looking after her but I went to a party instead. When I returned, her room was destroyed and she had disappeared. The police promised to find her then two days later declared her dead.” Haseul placed her hands on the desk and leaned closer to the poor doctor intimidatingly. “It wasn’t long before my parent’s marriage fell apart. They blamed each other. I blamed myself. My mother fell into a depression while my father thrived. I spent years looking after my mother when I should have been enjoying high school. And then one day I came home from my father’s house and walked in on my mother hanging herself. I watched her die, unable to do anything to save her.”

“I’m very sorry,” Mina squeaked. 

“I’m not finished,” Haseul bellowed, “Do you know why all this shit happened? Because you and fucking JYP stole my sister. You stole her. And you destroyed my family. Hell, you ruined my life. You are responsible for my mum’s death.”

The wood beneath Haseul’s hands cracked. Her body was burning with energy. Something more than blood was flowing through her veins. The short haired woman finally noticed that the doctor’s eyes were not focussed on her, but rather something behind her.

“Come now, Haseul-ssi. It’s not Mina’s fault. Can’t we be a little more reasonable?” 

Haseul turned to find Park Jihyo staring her down. She felt a sudden pain in her neck, just a scratch really. 

Her limbs suddenly began to feel heavy. The room began to spin. Haseul was aware that her body had collapsed against the desk, but her mind was clogged with fog. 

“You bitch,” she managed to slur before her tongue stopped working. 

The last thing Haseul thought before the fogginess overwhelmed her was that she wished that her attacker didn’t look so sad when she looked down on her. Haseul did try to fight the fog, but it felt like there was a weight pushing down on her. She gave in to the darkness. 

Haseul passed out on the floor of the good doctor’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a long one from me. Hopefully that will make up for the wait haha. 
> 
> As always, feel free to comment, criticism or otherwise. I like feedback :]
> 
> On another note, has anyone checked out (G)I-dle's latest comeback? I think it slaps. 
> 
> Stay home and stay safe kiddos! I hope everyone is well, or as well as possible.


	20. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi pals! A shorter one today, but I hope y'all like it. 
> 
> Stay safe kiddos

Haseul was vaguely aware of someone calling her name. A fog clouded her mind, the voice echoed around her head. Haseul tried to open her eyes but her eyelids were too heavy. It felt like an impossible task. That only pushed her to try and pry them open.

Slowly, Haseul lifted her eyelids and took in her blurry surroundings. She was lying on a mat on the floor, a blanket covered her body. She was in the same clothes she was in before she passed out. She was glad of that. There was a small, door shaped opening in front of her which was lined with bars. 

There was someone behind the bars. The figure was blurry. But the voice was familiar. 

“Jungeun?” Haseul slurred. Her tongue felt sluggish and felt weird and uncomfortable sitting in her mouth.

“Haseul! Haseul, stay awake, stay with me,” Jungeun hissed. She pushed her hand through the bars, holding out to Haseul. 

If her body weren’t weighed down by a tonne of invisible bricks, Haseul would have reached out and gripped the outstretched hand.

“I know you don’t want to see me, but I’m going to save you,” the blurred figure said. Haseul groaned in response. “Just, wait here while I figure out how to get you out. Fucking thing needs a fucking handprint. Stay awake, Haseul. Fight the fog, you can do it.”

Some time passed. It could have been a few minutes, it could have been a few years for all Haseul knew. The fog weighed heavy in her head, it tried to lure her towards sleep. The darkness was tempting, far too tempting to be good. Haseul fought against it. She forced herself to sit up against the wall. Even staying upright felt like the most difficult task she had ever experienced. 

Soon Haseul heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Jungeun in front of her. Jungeun did something from behind the bars. The bars began to raise. 

The woman slid under the bars while they were still raising. She gripped something tightly in her hand. It dripped thick, red liquid onto the bleached white floor. 

Only when she was close enough for Haseul’s foggy eyes to focus properly did she realise what the thing Jungeun was gripping was.

It was a severed hand. 

The hand clearly belonged to a woman. There was a ring on one of the fingers. Haseul should have been shocked, she should have jumped away from the severed hand. However, the fog weighed too heavy on her mind for her to even process what was happening.

“Come on, Haseul. We don’t have much time. She won’t remain unconscious for long,” Jungeun rushed through her speech. With her mind riddled with unmoving fog, Haseul simply stared at her saviour. She tried to move her body, but it wouldn’t budge. “Fuck, they filled you with enough tranquilizer to subdue a full-blooded demon. It’s a miracle it hasn’t killed you.”

Haseul tried to speak, she could barely manage to get out Jungeun’s name. 

“I’m sorry. I’m a meanie,” Haseul willed herself to say. She sluggishly managed to force the words out of her mouth. She wasn’t sure if Jungeun was able to understand them.

The brunette dropped the severed hand. Haseul was aware of Jungeun’s strong arms looping under her armpits. She was soon hoisted to her feet, but she couldn’t prevent herself from flopping back against the other woman. In another situation, her heart would have been racing and she would have blushed from the sudden intimacy. Whatever they had done to her stopped her heart from being able to race, it stopped the blood from rushing to her cheeks. Jungeun hoisted Haseul over her shoulders with surprising strength and practiced ease. 

“Haseul, don’t fall asleep, please stay awake,” Jungeun pleaded as Haseul’s head lolled against her. 

Jungeun smelt good. She smelt really good. It was a comforting scent. It made Haseul feel sleepier. Haseul was vaguely aware of Jungeun saying something.

Fighting the fog off for this long was exhausting, too exhausting. They had barely made it out of the prison cell before Haseul succumbed to sleep.

When Haseul finally awoke, she had no clue where she was. The fog that had riddled her mind had partially cleared up. Her body felt heavy, but not so heavy that she couldn’t move. She was confused and groggy, but not incapable of coherent thought. 

It was her memory that was still clogged with fog. She remembered her conversation with Doctor Myoui, although the mist dampened her anger, and she remembered a scratching pain in her neck. After that, everything was unclear and impossible to decipher. There was Jungeun’s face, a severed hand and a comforting scent. That was it. 

Haseul took in her surroundings. She was lying on a wooden floor. She was on a blanket and had a blanket on top of her. Her clothes were the same as the ones she wore before she passed out. She seemed to be in a room. There were two staircases. One spiralled downwards, one went straight up. Haseul lifted her chin. Several ropes hung from the ceiling, long enough to be gripped by someone standing in the room. There was an opening which led outside. However, the door was closed, shutting off Haseul’s view. She only knew it went outside because of the sunlight which came in through the small window in the door. 

Suddenly, Haseul heard footsteps. She panicked and searched for a hiding place. The mist in her mind still weighed her down, making it harder than it should have been. 

A brown ponytail was the first thing Haseul saw as the person climbed up the spiral staircase to her hiding place. The person was wearing an ill-fitting pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. They looked at Haseul and dropped the plastic bag they were carrying as they rushed towards Haseul. 

“Haseul! You’re awake!” she cried as she pulled Haseul into a hug. Her scent was familiar, comforting. Jungeun then pulled away with a sheepish apology and sat several paces away from Haseul.

“Where am I? What happened?” Haseul slurred, her tongue still moved slowly and sluggishly. 

“Those JYP girls, they tranquilized you. I think they used a tranquilizer commonly used on demons, normal tranquilizers don’t work on demons. It did more than just knock you out for a few hours, it’s a miracle it didn’t kill you, Haseul,” Jungeun blurted. She rested her hand on Haseul as she her voice rose passionately. She sighed and removed her hand. Haseul considered reaching out and holding her hand. After a quiet moment, Jungeun continued calmly, “I went to visit Yeojin and overheard them talking about you, what they were going to do to you once you were conscious. I couldn’t just not do anything, so I found you and took you out of that prison and brought you here. I would have taken you home but I couldn’t remember where you live. I’ve been taking care of you, you’ve been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while now.”

“A while? How long is a while? A day?” Haseul asked, rubbing her forehead. Jungeun winced.

“Uh, several days. I found you and rescued you on Boxing Day. You’ve been unconscious for about five days, I think,” the brunette revealed. Haseul tried to clamber upwards, but her weak body collapsed forwards. Jungeun moved quickly, she caught the weakened woman in her arms. Haseul gripped onto her arms, keeping her eyes away from Jungeun’s startlingly beautiful face. 

“I have to get home, Vivi will be worried sick about me,” Haseul cried. She patted her pockets in hope that she’d have her phone. Of course, there was no phone in her pocket. “My phone, where’s my phone?”

Jungeun gently placed Haseul back against the wall and sat back on her knees, looking like a scolded schoolgirl. 

“JYP must have taken it, I didn’t think to look for it. I’m not accustomed to such modern devices,” Jungeun kicked herself. Haseul frowned. 

“Hey, it’s not your fault I got myself kidnapped. You were a bit busy saving me,” she chuckled. Jungeun looked up at Haseul with brown puppy dog eyes. Panic set in once more, “Oh shit, how am I going to let them know I’m alive? They must be so worried.”

“Well, now you’re awake, you can show me the way to your home,” Jungeun suggested hopefully. “I can carry you, if that’s okay with you.”

“Jungeun, it’s still a struggle to even stay awake. I’m not sure I could stay awake the whole journey,” Haseul sighed, rubbing her head as if it would lighten the mist. 

Jungeun shuffled forwards, a deep frown on her face, “Then we will wait one more day for you to regain your strength.”

“Okay, okay,” Haseul whispered, “Where are we anyway?”

“Oh, the bell tower. This is the bell ringing room. Have you ever seen it before?” Jungeun asked eagerly. 

“I may have walked through it once,” Haseul said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Fuck, I’m thirsty,” she said. Her throat was so dry it was sore, her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls. 

Jungeun’s eyes widened. She shuffled towards the plastic bag she had brought in earlier. She pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to Haseul.

“I’ve been trying to keep you hydrated by giving you water and sugar when you seemed more conscious but I don’t think I did a very good job,” Jungeun said, her hands shook as she reached into the plastic bag. Haseul frowned as she sipped the water from the bottle. As much as she wanted to inhale the water, she knew better than that. If it went down too quick there was a chance it would immediately come straight back up. 

“Oh, I got some food as well. I heard that humans give each other chicken soup when they are ill so I’ve got some chicken soup. For you. I got some chicken soup for you,” she told Haseul as she produced a tin of soup from the plastic bag. She lifted off the lid and inspected the liquid. She made a frankly adorable face of disgust, “I don’t think this shit would make me feel better. Here.” Jungeun handed the tin to Haseul. 

Haseul smiled at the tin and laughed, “You’re not supposed to eat it cold.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know, I don’t know how to heat it up,” Jungeun lowered her head, her ears tipped with red. Feeling sorry, the bed-ridden woman grabbed the soup tin, held her nose, and downed the cold liquid. Jungeun took the empty tin off her, the disgusted grimace on her face mirrored Haseul’s own. 

“Should I just leave you to rest now?” Jungeun asked, uncertainty evident in her wavering voice. Haseul had to laugh at how hesitant and unsure Jungeun was acting. She usually oozed confidence, but now it was like Haseul had suddenly turned into a porcelain doll. 

“I do want to rest,” Haseul said, a conniving smile started to creep onto her face. “But it is quite cold.”

Jungeun began to apologise, saying she had no more blankets. 

Haseul sighed, “I suppose in that case, you’ll just have to come her and cuddle me. Huddle for warmth.”

Her cheeks starting to go a little red, Jungeun awkwardly shuffled in behind Haseul. She gingerly wrapped her arm around Haseul’s shoulders. Almost as if it was second nature, Haseul snuggled into Jungeun’s shoulder and chest. She could hear Jungeun’s heart beating. It was racing at first, pounding in her ear. Then it began to slow down as she felt Jungeun relax against her. 

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” Haseul mumbled. She felt the other woman’s heart begin to speed up a little. “But, I owe you an apology. I was a total dick to you. So much happened on that day, Christmas Day of all days. And I was on this mission to find out the truth about everyone and everything and myself and, to be completely honest, I realised just how much had been hidden from me my whole life and I was completely overwhelmed. Learning that you lied to me just pushed me over the edge and I took everything out on you. I’m sorry I lashed out at you like that, but I’m still mad you lied to me.”

Haseul suddenly felt Jungeun’s hand on her head, stroking her hair affectionately. She unconsciously leaned into the touch like a cat being stroked by its human butler.

“Haseul, would you like to hear a story?” Jungeun asked quietly. Haseul nodded silently against the other woman’s chest. “Okay then, let’s begin.”

“Once upon a time, there was a poor girl from a poor family. One day she magically turned into a different creature. She woke up one day, and her black hair had turned yellow. One of her eyes had turned red. She couldn’t remember her human childhood, only piecing together her story from paintings and photographs. But she knew that her transformation was the start of a new, different story. Different to she would have ever known as a human.”

“Was the girl you?” Haseul asked, sounding a lot like a child.

“Shush, I’m telling a story,” Jungeun laughed, she continued with her tale, “The girl was afraid, she didn’t know who she was or what to do with her life. She had crazy powers and she started to grow wings, which meant that she couldn’t hide amongst humans anymore. And then someone found her, someone like her. She was a beautiful woman with one green eye and one glowing white eye. She explained to the girl what she was, an Odd Eye. An ancient type of creature. It was unclear how they were born, how they came to exist. But the woman with white eye told the girl that Odd Eyes were humans created by God, when the group of humans were threatened by demons, they were granted supernatural gifts. However, half of the supernatural humans sided with the demons and used their powers for evil. The half human, half demon creatures born from their union were the first Odd Eyes. It was said the blessed humans who remained holy had children who were themselves blessed with gifts and those descended from those humans would have blessed children. She also said that Odd Eyes were born human and underwent a metamorphosis to become something not quite human, not quite holy, not quite demonic.”

“So, Odd Eyes are everything and nothing at the same time?” Haseul asked. She looked up and saw Jungeun smile. 

“That’s one way of looking at it,” she raised her eyebrow and scolded Haseul playfully, “I told you not to interrupt.” Haseul grinned back up at her. 

Jungeun continued with her story.

“Anyway, I got off track. The girl joined the Odd Eye Circle. She was renamed Kim Lip. She was trained to become a very powerful warrior. She was one of the greatest warriors in the Circle. Her title was threatened only by two others, an Odd Eye with a purple eye and an Odd Eye with a blue eye. Thankfully, the girl was very good friends with other two Odd Eyes. They were an unstoppable trio. 

One day, the people who lived and ruled over the Dream Realm contacted the Odd Eye Circle. Something had been stolen from them by the heavens. A mirror. And they wanted it back. They sent Kim Lip and her two friends, along with several others, to find the stolen item. It was to be brought back to the Odd Eye Circle so it could be bargained for. The angels had been prepared for the attack. When Odd Eye Circle descended on the heavens, the angels unleashed their attack. Naturally, we, I mean they, attacked back. They underestimated the Odd Eye Circle for what they lacked in numbers they made up for in power. They slaughtered the angels, the girl leading the slaughter. She found the place where they suspected the mirror was being hidden. The girl went into the place and found an angel guarding it. She went to attack the angel but stopped. The angel did not move to attack her. Instead, she calmly pleaded with the girl. Her name was Gahyeon, she claimed to have been stolen by the heavens when she strayed too far from the Dream Realm. She was the mirror. 

She was taken back to Odd Eye Circle, who decided to increase the stakes and threatened to kill Gahyeon if the Dream Realm would not give them what they desired. Kim Lip felt guilty. She didn’t want to be responsible for this girl’s death. Instead, she rescued the girl with the help of her two friends. The rulers of the Dream Realm vowed that they would owe Kim Lip one favour each. 

Kim Lip and her friends were cast out of the Odd Eye Circle for their betrayal. The trio travelled the realms by themselves, helping and destroying who they pleased. And then, the girl met a pretty woman. The woman seduced her and tricked Kim Lip into deserting her friends and following her to the heavens. There, as revenge for her part in the slaughter, and for revenge for stealing from the heavens, Kim Lip was punished. Her Odd Eye was ripped from her and replaced with a human eye. She was turned into stone and condemned to spend the rest of eternity watching over, protecting a church. Kim Lip had begged for forgiveness. God was merciful and allowed her this. On certain days, usually Pagan holidays, she would be allowed to be human. As soon as the holiday was over, she would return to stone. Then she saw a young girl, and knew that her task had changed. She would do anything to protect this girl.”

Haseul snuggled closer into Jungeun’s chest. 

“Is Jungeun your real name then?” Haseul asked. 

“Yes,” the former Odd Eye nodded, “In the period which me and my friends were separated from the Circle, we made it our mission to find out who we were. Yerim could remember who she was, as could others in the Circle, but Jinsol and I couldn’t. We found that I was born in Cheongju, Kim Jungeun. There’s power in our true names. You’re the person to know me as Jungeun rather than Kim Lip for centuries.”

“Wow,” Haseul breathed. “So, you’re not a murderer? You didn’t kill that unarmed angel in Heejin’s vision?”

Jungeun sighed, “I didn’t kill her, no. But I wouldn’t say I’m not a murderer. I didn’t think it when it happened, but I deserved my punishment. Not because I returned Gahyeon to the Dream Realm, but because of the atrocities I committed while I was a part of the Odd Eye Circle.”

Haseul felt a gentle, soft hand cup her face. Her chin was tilted upwards to look at Jungeun’s face. Haseul’s eyelids drooped a little as she absently focussed on Jungeun’s pretty lips. She tore her eyes off those soft looking lips and looked into Jungeun’s eyes. They were very easy to get lost in, especially with the mist clouding Haseul’s mind. 

“Haseul, I understand if you don’t want to know me, if you don’t want to see me again once I return you to your home. I’m not… I’m not a good person and I should never have let myself get involved with you. You’re so… you’re amazing, Haseul. You really are. I don’t deserve to know you,” Jungeun said passionately. Before Haseul could protest, the brunette continued, “But, I hope you understand that I will always do my best to protect you. I don’t know if it’s because it’s my divine duty or if it comes from a place of selfishness, I’m been stone for too long to truly understand the difference. But, if you want me, I’m here for you.”

Haseul remained silent, slowly processing Jungeun’s impassioned words. The former demon seemed disappointed by the lack of response. Her eyes dropped and her eyebrows drooped. Her hand dropped from Haseul’s cheek. Her other arm still wrapped around Haseul, but the protective hug loosened. It took some time for Haseul to formulate a response, but she got there eventually. 

“Jungeun, I’m not perfect. Don’t say that you don’t deserve me, because that’s not true. I don’t want to be worshipped and revered, my father worshipped my mother and look how that turned out. I don’t want to be put on a pedestal and treat other as undeserving of my presence. I want to be equals in a relationship, I want to be treated with respect and devotion as I respect and devote all my love to my partner. And, I’m not a girl you should worship. I’m stubborn and I overthink things and I can be super impulsive and I’m kind of broken,” Haseul blurted. Once she started speaking, everything poured out of her mouth.

Jungeun frowned, “I can’t fix you.”

“I don’t want you to,”

“If I could, I’d be there for you. I’d try to help you through the tough times. Help make the shit moments less unbearable. But I’m made of stone,” she sighed wistfully. Haseul nuzzled the other woman’s neck. She chuckled.

“That does make things difficult. But I don’t think anything about relationship is normal. We had dates in the Dream world,” she laughed. 

“Those were dates?” Jungeun shook her head, “Haseul, the next time I’m human, I’ll take you on a real date. It’ll be the greatest date of your life!”

Haseul laughed, “Well, that’s a big statement. I hope you can live up to it!”

Jungeun scoffed, “Of course I can.”

They both laughed a little more. Their conversation continued. They reminisced about their time in the Dream world, arguing about whether they had actual been on an official date before. To Haseul, it felt oddly normal. Maybe it was because everything had been so strange lately. Maybe it was because Jungeun made her feel like it was okay to be different, like she was normal. She didn’t know. All she knew was that she liked spending time with the former demon, even if she did have a tortured and quite evil past. It wasn’t Haseul had the perfect childhood and tragedy free past. Despite the circumstances, Haseul felt that she appreciated the break from the outside world that she knew so little about. 

Jungeun was explaining more about her past and more about what Odd Eyes were when a sleepy feeling Haseul like a tonne of bricks. Her eyelids fluttered against Jungeun’s bare skin.

“Jungie, I’m so sleepy,” she whined. The other woman stroked her hair and grinned. 

“Then sleep, Haseul,” she cooed, “I’m here for you.”

It seemed that the moment Haseul’s eyelids closed, she fell asleep. It was the most peaceful sleep she had had in a long time.

Haseul felt a hundred times lighter when she woke up. Her head felt clear and free from fog and her body no longer felt like it had been nailed to the floor. It was dark outside, she could see the dark blue sky through the gap in the door. Jungeun was nowhere to be found.

Haseul didn’t know how to feel. She was glad that she felt better, and she was glad that Jungeun had told her the truth. She was worried, very worried, about her roommates and her friends. She was afraid that JYP would come after her, and she was afraid of the demons that seemed to want her too. Knowing that Jungeun was on her side made her less afraid. Speaking of Jungeun, the former demon was missing. She felt a little abandoned. It scared Haseul how much she longed to wake up with Jungeun’s strong arms around her, protecting her. 

The short-haired woman clambered to her feet. She still felt unsteady and weak, but she had enough strength to stand. She had enough strength to walk one step, and then another, and then another. Her feet carried her all the way to the door. Haseul grinned at her feet triumphantly. 

She peeked through the gap in the door and noticed the figure stood out on the roof of the church. Jungeun.

Haseul pushed open the door and slowly staggered through the opening. 

Jungeun was standing on the roof, her head tipped up towards the stars. She rested her head on her hands which were placed on top of one of the church’s grotesques. She was smiling. It was carefree smile full of genuine and lacking any sense of concern or hesitation. 

She was beautiful.

Haseul had always found Jungeun attractive. From the moment she met her, she thought she was handsome and prince-like while being simultaneously pretty and, as she got to know her, cute. But there was something about the way the stars shined in her eyes, the way the moonlight lit up her smile, that was somehow different. The moon was bright that night. It shone down and illuminated Jungeun, making her look like a moon goddess or an artist’s depiction of a guardian angel. 

Haseul’s heart was racing. She couldn’t remember the first time she had felt this. She had been told by her mother that your first love was always the strongest, the most memorable, the purest. She was wrong. The feeling was incomparable to what she felt for Vivi in the sense that it was totally different. It coursed through her, making her feel alive. It felt pure, unadulterated, sincere. 

She wasn’t in love with her, but the feeling which swelled in her heart was unmistakable. 

And then Jungeun turned her head, just enough to see Haseul. Her eyes crinkled as she gave Haseul a shy smile.

She might not have been in love with Jungeun, but at that moment, Haseul knew that this woman was someone she could easily fall in love and spend the rest of her life with.

Haseul staggered towards the other woman. Jungeun began to frown, watching Haseul catiously. 

“You must be feeling better,” Jungeun commented. Haseul grinned at her. 

“Well, I can walk,” she replied wryly. Jungeun stepped forwards and took Haseul’s arm, she lead her towards a grotesque, giving her something to lean on. “I missed you when I woke up.”

Jungeun smiled sadly and looked back up at the stars. 

“When I’m stone, I never get to look up at the stars, my eyes are always focussed on the streets. I always miss the sky, particularly the stars. I love the moon. I always take advantage of being able to look upwards,” she said wistfully. 

Haseul watched Jungeun talk, she observed the sad way the brunette furrowed her eyebrows and lowered her gaze. She gave Jungeun an encouraging smile.

“Well, I didn’t always take advantage of it,” she chuckled bitterly, “When I was first turned into stone, I spent my days as a human trying to find a way to reverse my curse. I thought I found away. If I killed myself as a human, it’d be over, but it never worked.”

“Like Groundhog Day,” Haseul mused. Jungeun narrowed her eyes in confusion. “Er, continue.”

“Well, after that I thought nothing mattered. I could do anything while human so I gave into hedonistic impulses. That got boring and did nothing to fill the void. Stargazing though, roaming the streets I look over, it feels comforting,” Jungeun finished with a sigh. 

“Being stone sounds rough,” Haseul said, comfortingly rubbing Jungeun’s arm. The former demon gave a little smile. 

“Will you watch the stars with me?” she asked. Haseul nodded. Smiling, Jungeun rested one arm on the grotesque’s head, her other arm wrapped Haseul’s waist. Her chin came to rest on Haseul’s shoulder, her eyes flicked up to the stars. As did Haseul’s.

After a while, Jungeun sighed wistfully. 

“I’ll be glad to see in the new year with you. It’s been a long time since I spent new year with anyone,” the former demon said. Haseul leant her head on Jungeun’s. 

“Wait, it’s New Year’s Eve? I’ve been out for that long?” she exclaimed. Jungeun lifted her head and turned Haseul around to face her. 

“Would you like to go back now? I can take you back if you want?” she asked. Haseul shook her head.

“I don’t fancy moving at night,” Haseul admitted. “And, it would be nice to spend this time with you.”

Jungeun looked down with a shy smile. She was secretly such a cute dork.

“You know, apparently, humans see in the new year with a kiss,” she whispered. Haseul hummed. 

“Yeah, I never got the whole new year’s kiss thing. It seemed kind of silly to me,” Haseul declared obliviously. Jungeun’s face fell. She felt bad for it, but the forlorn expression on the former demon’s face made Haseul laugh. “It’s a cute concept though. Maybe I should give it a shot,” Haseul saved herself wryly. The moonlight illuminated Jungeun’s reddening ears and cheeks. 

The short distance between the two women suddenly became very apparent to Haseul. She saw how Jungeun was blushing, how she was looking at her lips longingly. Her heart was racing, she didn’t know how Jungeun couldn’t hear it. 

A noise shocked them apart. It was a distance bang, followed by several other bangs. 

Haseul gasped gleefully. Fireworks. 

Green, red and gold lit up the sky. Jungeun’s eyes were filled with joy and wonder. The coloured flashes reflected in her eyes, colouring her pretty face. 

“They’re so beautiful,” the former demon breathed.

“I know,” Haseul mumbled under her breath. 

“It must be midnight,” Jungeun commented. Another set of fireworks were set off in a different part of the city. More were set off behind them.

“It must be,” Haseul muttered, she couldn’t stop her eyes from falling onto Jungeun’s pretty lips. “That’s when you’re supposed to get your New Year’s kiss.”

It took the brunette a couple of moments for her to catch the hint. When she did, she tensed up nervously. Haseul’s heart pounded harder and harder as Jungeun leant forwards. Two pairs of eyes fluttered shut as lips collided. 

Fireworks. 

The physical fireworks outside coloured Haseul’s eyelids. The fireworks that set off in her mind were almost overwhelming. She pulled out of the kiss and licked her lips. The nerves were evident on Jungeun’s face, even when she smirked confidently.

“So, do you still think new year’s kisses are silly?”

Haseul returned the smirk, “Of course I do. Maybe I need more convincing.”

She entwined her fingers in Jungeun’s soft, brown hair and pulled her closer. Their lips collided in a gentle, meaningful kiss. She could feel Jungeun smiling against her lips and couldn’t fight back a sweet giggle. 

They continued to kiss sweetly, innocently, until the fireworks faded. Jungeun pulled away and glanced up at the sky with a pout. 

“The smoke has obscured the stars,” she whined. Haseul laughed. 

“You’re such a dork,” she chuckled as she brought Jungeun closer to her, sealing their lips once more.


	21. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey pals! Just a short chapter today. I'm supposed to be revising for exams but I've been super motivated to write so I want to take advantage of that. Finding a good balance is tricky though.
> 
> Quick warning: this chapter contains violence and kind of body horror (I guess???)
> 
> Stay safe kiddos

To say that the women who lived in Haseul’s apartment were surprised when she showed up the following morning was an understatement, to say the very least. 

Jungeun had kindly helped Haseul get back to her home, saying that she wanted to take advantage of the time she spent human, after all Yule was to end at the end of the day. 

When they had stepped through the door, Jiwoo had appeared out of nowhere and karate chopped Jungeun in the neck, making her crumple against the door frame instantly. 

“Jiwoo!” Haseul cried. The fallen angel stared at Haseul for a moment. Her look of confusion would have been utterly adorable if she hadn’t just knocked out Jungeun with a single, well-placed strike. 

“Haseul? Why are you here?” she asked. She glanced down at the body on the floor. “Who’s that?”

Haseul didn’t get the chance to answer. A body slammed into her with so much force that she fell backwards to the floor. 

It was Hyunjin who had launched herself at Haseul, the cat-like girl was nuzzling Haseul’s neck, telling her that she missed her. 

“I knew you’d come back!” she cried.

“Of course, I came back,” Haseul said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. “Can you maybe get off me, Hyun?”

Hyunjin clambered off her unnie and helped her to her feet. Haseul was nearly knocked off them again when Vivi rushed to hug her. 

“Don’t do that to me again, I was worried sick,” she scolded the younger girl. Haseul tried her best not to cry when Vivi whispered into her ear. Vivi pulled out of the hug and clasped Haseul’s shoulder, “Next time you decide to run off, don’t just send me a text. At least say goodbye.” 

“Huh?”

As it turned out, Vivi had received a message from Haseul on Christmas Day. The message claimed that Haseul had returned to her dad’s house to patch things up. The message said she might be staying there for a while, even indefinitely, depending on how things went.

The message was shown to Haseul over the kitchen table. Jungeun, who had quickly recovered from the karate chop, was standing awkwardly behind Haseul’s chair. The rest of the girls, except for Heejin, were sat around the table. Heejin stood behind Hyunjin’s chair, her arms protectively around her girlfriend, and stared daggers at Jungeun. Despite her mistrustful stare, there was nothing intimidating about Heejin’s dirty glances in the slightest. 

“So, where the hell were you then, if you weren’t at your dad’s place?” Heejin asked. 

“Didn’t I say that she wouldn’t have gone back to her dad?” Hyunjin chuckled. Vivi patted her hand as if to say, ‘Well done’, and it certainly satisfied the cat-like girl. 

Haseul glanced up to Jungeun. The brunette noticed and placed a silent hand on Haseul’s shoulder. 

“Did you run off to spend time with this… this…” Heejin began to ask, still staring at Jungeun. 

“No! Of course not!” Haseul exclaimed. 

“Come on, Haseul unnie wouldn’t run off with a random girl without saying anything!” Jiwoo clambered to her friend’s defence. Heejin did frown and nod as if she was agreeing. Haseul knew though that Heejin knew that Jungeun wasn’t just some random girl. After all, she had ranted to Heejin about how much liked the brunette woman when they first met and later she had ranted to her about her curious warnings. She knew Heejin was smart enough to know that two and two makes four. Four being Jungeun, in this case. Haseul was also aware that the only reason Heejin wasn’t making a fuss about Jungeun being a murderer and a demon was because of Hyunjin’s presence in the room.

JYP had changed Heejin, that was certain.

Haseul sighed and pressed her temples. 

“Will you guys promise not to freak out if I tell you what happened?” she asked. 

While most of the girls agreed with tentative nods and awkward glances at each other, Chaewon responded with an ‘absolutely not’. She was a funny little thing, that girl. 

“As nice as she seems, I think we’d all feel more comfortable if you told us what happened without your, um, companion here,” Vivi said tentatively. 

Haseul wanted to defend Jungeun, but the former demon responded for her. She agreed to leave graciously. Haseul stood to show Jungeun out, ensuring to promise that she wouldn’t be long. 

“I’m sorry I karate chopped you!” Jiwoo shouted after the pair as Haseul guided the former demon towards the door. 

When they reached the door, Jungeun gave Haseul a sad look.

“Well, I probably won’t see you for a while,” she commented, “The spring equinox is the next time I’ll be human.”

“I can visit your stone form,” Haseul offered sadly. The brunette laughed. 

“I don’t think the church is very safe for you, dear,” she replied, “Don’t worry, Haseul, you’ll see me again. And I’ll take you out on the best date of your life.”

“Promise?” Haseul raised her eyebrows seductively as she reached upwards to innocently kiss the corner of Jungeun’s mouth. With a hand on the small of her back, the former demon turned her head to give Haseul a proper kiss. It was firm, but not forceful or desperate. Haseul had had her fair share of goodbye kisses, and this wasn’t a goodbye, rather a ‘see you later’.

Grinning like an idiot, Haseul returned to the kitchen where several pairs of eyes stared deep into her soul. The short-haired woman settled into a seat. The weight of the stares made her a little uncomfortable. She knew they were waiting for her to speak, but she wanted to wait a few minutes to get her story straight, and make sure it was the abridged version, for Hyunjin.

Haseul took a deep breath, and then began to speak. She told them how she went to visit Yeojin, who was in a coma. She told them calmly how she met with Jungeun and fought with her. Sighing, she told them how she spoke with Dr Myoui, a doctor working for JYP. She didn’t go into details, but she mentioned how Dr Myoui told Haseul that her mother used to work for the company which would eventually become JYP, and how she found out that Yeojin really was her sister. The other women listened quietly and politely. Hyunjin gasped loudly when Haseul revealed the truth about Yeojin’s past. Haseul went on to describe how she was sedated and caged and then rescued by Jungeun. She finished by explaining that she woke up the previous day, worked things out between her and Jungeun and then was helped home in the morning. 

The women in front of Haseul processed the story. Poor Hyunjin looked beyond confused. 

“Okay, I have many questions. The first being, who the fuck are JYP? Secondly, what aren’t you telling me?” Hyunjin broke the silence. The chair scraped loudly against the floor as she got to her feet. Heejin narrowly avoided being hit with the chair she stood behind. 

“Ask your girlfriend,” Haseul replied casually. 

All eyes in the room turned to stare at Heejin. She turned so pale her skin almost seemed grey. It was at that moment that Haseul finally noticed how ill Heejin looked. Her eyes were sunken in and missing the cheeky shine they once possessed. The massive bags under her eyes were darker than her raven hair. There was no colour in her face whatsoever. 

Heejin scowled and folded her arms. 

“JYP wouldn’t do that!” she said firmly, “They wouldn’t. How do you know that Jungeun didn’t just sedate you and pretend to rescue you to get you on her good side?”

Haseul could only laugh.

“Jungeun wouldn’t do that. She told me all about her past, she’s not perfect but she’s not evil, Heejin. Not like JYP,” the older woman declared. 

“JYP? Aren’t they the ones who promised to tell you and Heejin what you are?” Jiwoo piped up, with fantastic timing. 

“What do you mean ‘what’ you are? What aren’t you telling me?” Hyunjin cried. 

Chaewon and Vivi’s reactions were almost amusing. They both looked like they wanted to hide in a ditch. They exchanged bewildered looks. Jiwoo realised she probably made things worse and shrank into herself. 

Haseul raised her eyebrow, “Yeah, Heejin, what aren’t you telling us? Did JYP keep their promise?”

“Hyunjin, I promise I was going to tell you. But I just needed proof and evidence, I didn’t want you to think I was crazy. Or worse, I didn’t want you to hate me,” Heejin reached out to touch Hyunjin’s arm. The cat-like girl stepped away with a betrayed scowl.

“Wait, is it JYP who you’ve been spending all your time with? Is that why you’ve been so secretive and distant? I thought you were cheating on me!”

“I could never cheat on you, I love you!” Heejin protested. 

“I think this is worse. You’ve been spending time with the people who kidnapped Haseul’s sister, and then tried to kidnap Haseul herself! How can these people be good? How can you spend all that time with these bad people?” Hyunjin cried. 

“They aren’t the bad guys! They’ve been helping me!” Heejin shouted. 

“How? You look like you’re on the verge of fucking death!” Hyunjin’s scream resounded around the room. 

Haseul shrank in her seat guiltily. 

“Do you guys mind if we go and talk somewhere private?” Heejin asked quietly, her voice wavered and her bottom lip wobbled. 

“Yeah, you can go into one of bedrooms or the bathroom, if you want?” Vivi suggested quietly. 

Heejin went to take Hyunjin’s arm as the couple left the kitchen. Hyunjin shook her off, refusing to look at her. Haseul prayed she hadn’t just destroyed their relationship. 

Something struck Haseul, she remembered how Hyunjin had said that Heejin hadn’t said ‘I love you’ yet. Did she just admit it for the first time in a fight?

The four remaining women sat in awkward silence while Hyunjin and Heejin fought in the bathroom. They could hear muffled shouts, but it wasn’t loud enough to decipher the words. Not that Haseul wanted to decipher the words, that would be an invasion of privacy. 

“So, do you think we’ll need to find a space for one of them to crash at ours for a bit?” Vivi asked Haseul. 

Haseul shrugged.

“I hope not, we don’t have enough space in our two bedroom flat for four people, never mind five,” she winced when she heard a particularly loud shout, “It sounds like we may need to sort something out.”

“I’d offer to move out if I could,” Jiwoo said. Haseul smiled at the poor angel.

“You don’t need to offer anything like that,” she patted her hand gently. 

The muffled shouting began to get a little quieter. Haseul hoped they were closing the argument. She also hoped they didn’t end up having angry sex in her bathroom, she didn’t put it past them to do that.

Haseul frowned, “Hey, Vivi, you know your friend Tzuyu works for JYP, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware. She’s told us what she does for a living,” Vivi said with a sigh.

“Wait, really? She’s told you everything?”

“She told us what she does, not what JYP does. I know what Tzuyu is, I know what the rest of my friends are. My meetings with Chinese speaking friends are more like… supernatural support groups,” Vivi revealed tentatively, “Don’t bother asking about the other girls, we are sworn to secrecy.”

At that moment, the muffled shouting suddenly stopped. 

There was silence. The sense of dread that followed was stifling. The four girls at the table turned to stare in the direction of the door. 

There was a scream. It was loud, painful, full of agony and anguish. 

Soon after the scream, there was the unmistakeable sound of a door slamming. 

Hyunjin was screaming Heejin’s name over the cries of pain.

Haseul jumped into action and ran towards her bathroom, she was sure the other girls followed. Of course, the bathroom was only a short distance away. As soon as she left the kitchen, she could see Hyunjin pounding against the door, screaming and begging for Heejin to let her in.

“Hyunjin, what happened?” Haseul asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice. Someone had to be strong. The cat-like girl embraced Haseul and bent down to cry onto Haseul’s shoulder. Haseul felt for her, she had to bend down really far to reach Haseul’s shoulder. Hyunjin’s neck must have ached, even after as few seconds. 

“Seul unnie,” she sobbed, “We were fighting and then Heejin went really silent. And then she started screaming in pain and she started hiding her face and telling me to get out but I wanted to help her and then she pushed me out of the bathroom and locked the door.”

“Oh fuck,” Haseul swore. She handed off Hyunjin onto the next available person. Chaewon didn’t seem to be particularly enthralled to have a sobbing woman thrust upon her, but she still hugged the crying girl regardless. Haseul knocked on the door.

“Heejin? Heejin, it’s me, Haseul. Will you let me in?” she asked gently. She put her ear to the door and heard sobs and moans of pain. “Come on, Heejin, little bunny. Let me help.”

There was no response, other than loud pants and whimpers. 

“Heejin, I know you can hear me, we have no privacy in that bathroom,” Haseul tried to joke. She sighed heavily and rested her forehead against the door, “Listen, Heejin, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I haven’t been there for you and I’m sorry that I’ve been a dick to you about joining JYP. I still don’t think JYP is good, I know they aren’t, but I should have trusted you. You’re an adult, you can make your own decisions. I said I’d support you, but I haven’t. So I’m sorry I broke my promise, let me make it up to you.”

For a moment, there was complete silence. The lock clicked and the bathroom door opened ever so slightly. 

“Just you, unnie,” Heejin whimpered. Haseul slipped in through the crack in the door. The door was swiftly closed behind her; the lock clicked shut. Heejin took a few steps back from Haseul and pouted. Haseul’s eyes fixated on Heejin’s forehead. 

“They’re hideous, aren’t they?” Heejin groaned. 

Bursting through her forehead were two long, black horns. They curved upwards and backwards, then curved forwards at the tips. They shone like polished ebony and were ridged. The tips seemed so sharp that even a slight touch would pierce skin. The horns would have been strikingly beautiful, if they weren’t on the head of a nineteen-year-old girl. Around the rims of the horns, the skin was broken and dark, like it had been bruised. Blood dripped from the rims of the horns, dripping down Heejin’s temples. The black liquid of the tips of the horns dripped down onto the white floor. 

“No, they’re not hideous, of course not. I think they’re kind of beautiful actually,” Haseul said softly, comfortingly. Heejin sighed angrily and perched on the edge of the bath.

“I doubt Hyunjin will think they’re beautiful,” she muttered. Haseul kneeled in front of the poor girl.

“Hyunjin loves you, I’m sure she thinks all of you is beautiful, horns and all. Besides, she’s human, she won’t see them anyway,” Haseul cooed in a motherly tone, “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?” 

The older woman first dampened a flannel. She then placed one hand behind Heejin’s head and gently dabbed the moist towel around the rims of the horns. Heejin winced every time the flannel touched her skin. She started to cry again.

“That’s the thing, demons and cambions hide the things which mark them as demons from humans through glamours. They haven’t taught me how to do them yet,” Heejin wailed. She went to put her head in her hands but ended up slamming her hands into her horns. Slowly, she pulled her hands away and stared at the ridge marks on her palms. Heejin began to wail even louder. Haseul sighed and kneeled in front of Heejin once more. She cooed comfortingly and reached out to wipe away Heejin’s tears with her thumb. 

“Unnie, you were right,” Heejin sobbed, “Unnie, I think they tricked me. They told me that I wasn’t a true cambion, that they were doing tests to find out what I really was. They said they suspected that I was part demon and gave me a serum. They didn’t tell me what it was for and I let them give it to me. I think they were testing the serum on me. Unnie, I think I’m nothing more than a test subject to them.”

“Maybe they’ll tell you what you are now, maybe they’ll teach you how do glamours now that they are necessary,” Haseul suggested. 

That made Heejin sob loudly again, “What if they kidnap me like they did with you?”

Haseul was lost for words. She really wanted to be smug and berate Heejin for not believing her. But how could she when her best friend was bawling her eyes out in her bathroom?

Heejin sniffled, “Unnie, the reason I’ve been so mad at you lately is because I was starting to realise that you were right about JYP. And, I was in denial. I was so close to finding who I really am that I decided to ignore the red flags and now… now my life is ruined because I have fucking horns. I can’t go out, Hyunjin’s going to hate me.”

“Hyunjin won’t hate you,” Haseul began to say. Suddenly, Heejin stood upright and declared in low, deep voice,

“I have to cut them off,”

Haseul pleaded with the girl to stop and think, to try and be rational. The irony was not lost on her. 

Heejin raided the cupboards, searching for anything that would help her on her mission. She pulled out a razor first.

“Heejin, you can’t shave them off!” Haseul cried. Heejin growled like a wild beast and savagely threw the razor away. It hit Haseul in the shoulder with enough force to make her stumble back and clutch her injured shoulder. The scuffle stopped and Heejin straightened her back, panting loudly. She raised her hand. Clutched in her tiny, baby hand was a pair of scissors. They were a sharp, but delicate pair of salon scissors that Haseul once bought when she decided to cut her hair off, before Vivi made her go and get it done professionally. Haseul looked at the mad glint in Heejin’s eyes through her reflection in the mirror. A smile formed on Heejin’s face. Haseul wasn’t certain if she was afraid for Heejin, or afraid of her. She had never been afraid of Heejin before. It was unsettling. 

Heejin flicked open the scissors and slammed the blade against her horn. She grunted, but the mad grin never left her face. She began to move her arm up and down, attempting to saw the new appendage off. She didn’t seem to be making much progress, all she did was make a black liquid begin to ooze out of the horn. It dripped in thick, gloopy droplets onto the bathroom sink. 

“Heejin, stop, you’re hurting yourself,” Haseul cried. She lurched forwards and grabbed Heejin’s hands, trying to pry them away from her horns. Heejin snarled and tried to shove Haseul away with her shoulders, continuing to saw uselessly at her horns. Changing tactic, Haseul used one hand to push against Heejin’s body while she used her other to wrestle the scissors from Heejin’s tiny hands. The young woman’s grip on the scissors was unyielding. 

Heejin continued to try to push Haseul away using her shoulders and body. The two scuffled and fought over the scissors. Haseul wished she was taller, she surely would have been able to reach the scissors if she had longer arms. 

Suddenly, something in Heejin snapped. There was something that changed in her eyes and her expression. She went from looking crazily determined and pained, to blank. There was no real emotion in her eyes or on her face, but her nose scrunched and her lip curled up. This wasn’t the Heejin that Haseul knew. 

An elbow collided with Haseul’s stomach. Winded, the short woman stumbled backwards. The girl’s outside were banging on the door, demanding to know what was happening. 

Haseul was too busy defending herself to respond. 

Heejin brought her arm down, threatening to stab Haseul with the scissors if she didn’t react fast. Her reflexes took over. Haseul blocked the attack and jabbed Heejin in the stomach. While she was distracted, Haseul yanked the scissors away from Heejin and waved them in front of her, trying to look threatening. She really didn’t want to hurt her friend.

Heejin roared and charged across the bathroom head first. Haseul squeaked and grabbed onto Heejin’s horns, dropping the scissors onto the floor. She slid up against the door and pushed against Heejin with all her might. She prayed that something would kick in, like it had done in previous situations. A sudden burst of strength, anything. Heejin pushed back against her, the sharp tips of her horns getting closer and closer to Haseul’s body. The black liquid oozing from one of the horns dripped onto Haseul’s foot. She could feel the vibrations from the other girls slamming and banging against the door. 

There was no pulse of energy, no sudden burst of strength. If anything, she got weaker, a mist entering her mind. Haseul cursed, the damn sedative was still in her system, inhibiting any raw power from aiding her. She was on her own, no hidden powers were going to show themselves. With a grunt, Haseul weakly kneed Heejin in the chest. It was just strong enough for the younger girl to lessen the push on Haseul, just enough for the short woman to release her hold on Heejin’s horns and dart out of the way. The other woman fell forwards and landed horn first in the door. 

It looked like they were going to need a new bathroom door. 

Furious, Heejin pulled herself out of the door and turned with a ferocious roar. She grabbed Haseul by the neck and raised her tiny fist. 

While they were face to face, Haseul could see her own reflection in Heejin’s blank eyes. She could see for herself how terrified she looked. She was crying, she hadn’t realised that she was crying. Slowly, she saw something, she wasn’t sure what, return to Heejin’s eyes. 

The girl dropped Haseul and collapsed to her knees, sobbing into her hands. 

“Haseul, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she wailed. Shocked by the sudden turn around, Haseul stood frozen, words evaded her. “It was like I had no control, I couldn’t stop myself. I… I think I’m evil.”

Haseul knelt. Her whole body was shaking. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide. But at that moment, Heejin needed her more. 

“No, you’re not evil. We… can help you control it, you’ll be okay, Heejin,” she said, taking hold of Heejin’s hands. 

“How can you just forgive me? Just like that? I’m-”

Haseul didn’t find out what Heejin was, for she cut herself off. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. Her body started to convulse and then she collapsed forwards onto Haseul.

Heejin screamed in agony while Haseul watched two bloody spots appear on Heejin’s back. She grasped onto Heejin’s shoulders and held her in place. She could feel her neck getting wet with the younger girl’s tears. 

Two small bumps began to rise beneath Heejin’s shirt where the blood was concentrated. They were both just below each of the young woman’s shoulder blades. The bumps continued to grow larger and larger, straining against the fabric of the shirt. Heejin screamed and wailed. Haseul tried to look away, but she couldn’t.

The fabric ripped and the bumps burst free. The bumps appeared to be black bone. They grew and grew, bursting from Heejin’s back. As more appeared, Haseul realised it wasn’t just bone, it was bone and muscle. This creeped out first, then skin crawled up the muscle and coated it. The bones stopped growing. They had grown outwards to span across the full length of the bathroom. In fact, they barely fit in the room, they had to fold in on themselves. Heejin stopped screaming and panted heavily against Haseul. 

For a moment, Haseul thought it was over. However, Heejin began to moan again and her body shuddered. Along the black appendages, feathers began to grow. They were pure black. They continued to grow and spurt out of the skin. 

Finally, the feathers stopped growing. The ordeal was over. 

Heejin sat back on her heels and lowered her head. Haseul could only stare at her friend in a mix of horror and awe. 

Large, black, feathered wings protruded from Heejin’s back. She looked like an angel of death. Yet, the demon blood coursing through her veins could not be denied, not when dangerous weapons burst from her forehead. A bloody tear dropped from Heejin’s eye. It left a red mark on her cheeks as it travelled down her face and dripped onto the floor. 

“Unnie, I think I’m a monster,” Heejin whispered. 

Haseul’s heart broke. 

The short-haired woman stood and held her hands out to Heejin, allowing her to clamber to her feet. She swayed backwards, the weight of her new wings nearly made her topple over. She would have fallen if Haseul hadn’t held her steady. 

Haseul embraced her friend. 

“Of course, you’re not a monster, we can fix this,” she whispered softly. 

“How?” Heejin asked, her usually deep voice was high pitched and broken.

With absolutely terrible timing, the door crashed open. Jiwoo stood on the other side, lowering her leg. She kicked the fucking door down. The fallen angel frowned and tilted her head. 

“You guys are okay?” she asked. The blood covered sink was obscured by Heejin’s large wings. 

Haseul stepped towards the door. Heejin attempted to hide behind Haseul. However, being taller than her and having just grown a pair of horns and a massive pair of wings, there was no hiding in that bathroom. 

“You’re both okay, I was so worried,” Vivi pushed past Jiwoo and hugged Haseul, and then reached out to hug Heejin. She paused and took in Heejin’s appearance. There was a moment of hesitation before the small woman launched herself towards Heejin, hugging her tightly but visibly trying to avoid touching her wings. “I thought you were dying, don’t do that to us again,” Vivi scolded Heejin, booping her nose. Now that was a funny sight. 

“Heejin?” came a little voice from outside the bathroom. Hyunjin lingered in the doorway, her eyes were wide with fear. Heejin stepped towards her girlfriend, but Hyunjin backed away quickly, cowering against the wall. Heejin’s shoulders slumped and her sad expression broke Haseul’s heart all over again. 

“Hyunjin, it’s just me, I promise, I’m still me,” she pleaded. Hyunjin shook her head.

“You can’t be, you can’t be my Heejin,” Hyunjin shook her head vehemently. Heejin reached out to touch her girlfriend, but Hyunjin shied away from her. “Please don’t hurt me,” she squeaked. 

“Hyunjin…” Heejin whimpered. 

Desperately, the winged girl turned to face Haseul, wordlessly begging for help. Haseul was just as clueless, a stray tear ran down her cheek. 

“I’m so sorry I never told you,” Heejin told Hyunjin. Then, she turned towards the open window in the living room.

“Heejin, wait don’t!” Haseul shouted as Heejin ran towards the window. Both Chaewon and Jiwoo chased after her at an alarmingly fast speed. Haseul blinked and they were halfway across the living room. Even with their unnaturally fast speed, they couldn’t catch up to Heejin. The poor girl pushed the window open wider and then jumped. 

“Heejin!” Hyunjin screamed at the top of her lungs. The ear-piercing shriek forced Haseul to race forwards to the window. She looked out of the window at the ground, expecting to see a distant, crumpled body on the pavement. 

“Haseul, look!” Jiwoo pointed out of the window. Haseul followed her finger and looked upwards. A winged shadow flew in front of the sun. 

Heejin was flying.

Heejin was flying away.


	22. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! Another chapter for your enjoyment. 
> 
> I expect the next chapter or two will be filler chapters. I need to bridge the point between this chapter and the next section of the story and I have no idea how to do that. I'll try to figure it out quickly so that you don't have to wait years for the next chapter haha. 
> 
> Anyway, stay safe kiddos!

A girl lay on the floor face down. She groaned as shifted and lifted her body up. Slowly, she tilted her body to face the ceiling. She lifted her hand to cover her eyes as she winced at the hole in the ceiling she had just fallen through. The number of floors she had fallen through were too numerous to count easily. The girl slowly looked around the room. It was empty. Nothing but a few mats on the floor and herself. There was a ladder. At least she had a way of getting out of the damned pit she was in. Silently, the girl lowered her head back to the ground and curled up into a ball. She refused to cry. She wouldn’t cry. 

She was alone, truly alone. Before, she had felt alone even though she was surrounded by others. She regretted not cherishing those she loved, she regretted not making more of an effort with those she didn’t. For now, she was well and truly alone. 

She wouldn’t cry. 

Some time passed. The sun moved along. The light in the room was fading. Soon the girl would be left in complete darkness. She didn’t want that. 

The girl clambered to her knees, her eyes fixed on the ground. She noticed a feather fall from her wings onto the dusty ground. She picked up the feather and inspected it. The dust from the ground had collected onto the feather. The grey dust stood out against the pitch black of the feather. 

The girl growled and threw the feather to the ground. She watched it slowly drift, dancing through the air as if it was taunting her. 

Quick as a flash, she yanked the feather out of the air before it returned to the floor. 

“I hate you, it’s your fault,” she screamed at the feather. She threw it once more and roared as it slowly drifted to the ground. Viciously, she stood to her feet and stamped on the innocent feather. 

With a yell, the girl grabbed her wings and pulled on them as if she could pull them out. It didn’t even hurt her. All she succeeded in doing was pulling out two handfuls of short, black feathers. Feathers which had once been pure white. 

“It’s not fair!” the girl screamed at the empty walls. She tilted her head to the sky, “It’s not fair!” she yelled at the empty sky, “You were supposed to take them away!”

The sky did not shout back. 

“Keep them as a reminder of your sins,” she muttered to herself, “Fucking bullshit.”

Something so simple as having the freedom to swear to her heart’s delight should have amused, even delighted the girl. However, amusement and delight were foreign concepts. They never used to be.

The girl stalked towards the ladder. 

She didn’t know where she was going to go, what she was going to do. All she knew was that the first thing she had to do, was go up.

The ascent to the top of the building was long and arduous. She could have just flown up, but there was something about the thought using her wings that made her want to punch a wall. Perhaps if she never used them they would wither away and drop off. Perhaps she could convince the angel who came to pick them up to let her return to her rightful place in her heavens. Her rightful place in the heavens was ripped away from her, and she knew exactly who to blame. Yves. 

The ascent left the girl with plenty of time to consider her situation, yet her thoughts were consumed with tainted memories. If only Yves hadn’t had been so selfish, so sinful. She seduced Chuu, she must have done. Yves had to atone for her sins, of course she did, but had she kept her sinful thoughts to herself like the rest of them, none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have been cast out. Chuu wouldn’t have withered away in Yves’ absence. Gowon wouldn’t have followed them to ‘be free’ or some bullshit like that. And then the girl herself would have fallen herself. After all, wrath is one of the evillest of sins. 

Gowon. Thoughts of the fallen angel were difficult to remove from her mind. Beautiful memories were tainted by the feelings of betrayal and painted in a dark shadow of regret. Gowon was just as bad as the others, that’s what the girl told herself. She was above her. 

Except she wasn’t, not anymore. She too had fallen. She was just as sinful as those sinners she hated so much. 

And her wings reflected the anger which had taken over heart, rotting it till it was useless. 

She refused to cry. She would not cry. Not in anger, not in sadness, not in anguish. She refused to feel (if only she could pry the anger out of her heart).

The girl reached the top floor and climbed the ladder to the roof. If she reached out, maybe she could touch the heavens. If she could, no one would reach out and help her out. She was forsaken. She kept her head down and climbed to the top of the ladder. 

Stood on the other side of the roof was a girl. She had large black wings. 

The girl couldn’t help but wonder, was this girl just like her?

She approached the figure. As she got closer, she could see that the girl was wearing black trousers and what probably used to be a white shirt.

The sky was dark blue. The girl would have thought it was beautiful if she was capable of drawing her eyes from the girl. The roof lights cast an impressive shadow of the strange girl on the floor.

The girl stopped walking. She spotted two… things on top of the girl’s head. They must have been horns, or something similar. Her heart sank, sinking deeper into the furious pit of fire around her heart. She was a demon, a fucking demon. Served her right for ‘hoping’ that she would be anything else. Everything and everyone was flawed and sinful. Purity didn’t exist.

“Are you gonna jump?” the girl asked the figure at the edge of the roof, “Do a flip.”

The girl at the edge turned around sharply, her eyes wide and frightened. 

She was pretty, it was undeniable. She had pale skin, too pale, and pretty eyes, a pleasing high nose and a gentle jaw line. A beauty mark on her cheek simply emphasized her prettiness. In the girl’s eyes, her prettiness was ruined by the two horns which erupted from her forehead. She was thin, she looked like self-care wasn’t something she believed in. Her wings were large, smaller than the other girl’s though, and they were covered in black feathers. It was strange, the girl didn’t know that demons or their off-spring could have feathered wings like an angel. 

She had been crying, it was obvious. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks were stained with tears. The girl was glad she didn’t cry, she didn’t want to look like that. The other girl wiped her cheek with her sleeve. 

“No, I’m not going to jump,” she whimpered. Her voice was very deep, it startled the fallen angel. The demon girl sighed and sat down on the floor. “I just… I’ve had a rough day and I needed some space. I needed to be away from… everyone.”

“Did I fucking ask?” the standing girl asked harshly. The girl on the floor flinched.

“Sorry,” she apologised. “I figured that maybe you needed someone to talk to. That was stupid, you only come somewhere like here if you want to be alone.”

The standing girl huffed. She stared at the girl she considered pathetic for a bit longer. She rolled her eyes and settled on the floor next to her. 

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I chose to be here,” she grumbled bitterly. The girl tilted her head like a confused puppy. It was oddly charming. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” the girl asked, “It might make you feel better.”

The girl with no horns shrugged and hugged her legs. The girl beside her held out her hand. 

“I’m Heejin,” she introduced herself. The girl glanced at the outstretched hand. She made no effort to shake it. 

“I don’t know what my name is anymore,” she said glumly, “It used to be Olivia Hye but… I can’t be Olivia Hye anymore. It is forbidden for fallen angels to keep their heavenly name.”

Heejin lowered her hand and made an annoying humming sound. 

“How does Hyejoo sound? That’s a cute name, don’t you think?” she suggested. 

Hyejoo. The girl didn’t hate it. It was acceptable. She nodded awkwardly.

“Great! Nice to meet you Hyejoo,” the girl grinned charmingly. The fallen angel, now called Hyejoo, looked at the outstretched hand and continued to ignore it. Heejin awkwardly lowered her hand. “So, do you want to talk first, or should I?”

“What is this? What do you want from me?” Hyejoo asked aggressively. Heejin shrinked away.

“Nothing, I’m just being nice. I… maybe we can help each other, y’know?” she offered hesitantly. Hyejoo rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she grumbled. She played with the hem of her white robes as she half-heartedly told her story, “Well, I used to be an angel. And then I got chucked out because I sinned. The end.”

“Come on, Hyejoo. What was your sin? Why did you sin?” Heejin pestered. Seeing there was no easy escape from this strange demon girl, the fallen angel gave in.

“Ugh. My sin was wrath. And why? That’s a long story,” she said. Heejin smiled at her encouragingly. Fuck, this girl was such a pain in the ass. She growled before she continued. “Well, in heaven I had these friends called Yves, Chuu and Gowon. We were created at the same time, we learnt what it meant to be an angel together. Teacher liked me the most and I think Yves was jealous of that. She would never admit it, she was too proud. And then, Yves started to sin. She questioned God. And she spread her sin, she asked what was wrong about love. She gave me hope that maybe… Never mind. It’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Love between angels, especially between female angels. Well, Yves did something unforgivable, I saw it. And for her sin she was cast out of the heavens. Chuu blamed me. She was so in love with Yves that without her presence, she withered away and fell to the Earth. Some woman took her in and corrupted her more than Yves ever did. And then Gowon… Gowon cut off her own wings so she could leave with Yves and Chuu. Chuu cut off her wings too. And I… I was so angry. They all left me.”

She paused and clenched her fist. She wouldn’t cry, she refused. 

“They all left me. I was so angry that I let myself become corrupted with sin. I became so corrupted, my wings turned black. And then they threw me out of the heavens to atone for my sin.”

There was silence. 

“I know this will sound shit,” Heejin said tentatively, “But it sounds like you need to let go. Anger has made you fall, anger will only make things worse. I think that you really loved and admired your friends and I think that you need to love yourself more.”

“Love myself?” Hyejoo asked. It was a strange concept, self-love. Was it not the same as pride? Wasn’t pride sinful?

“Yeah. Love yourself,” Heejin said, she repeated it again, almost as if she was telling herself the same thing. 

“You’re going to unload all your shit on me now, aren’t you?” the fallen angel sighed. The demon girl nodded with a shy smile. 

“Well, ever since I was young, I knew I was different. I could see things that others couldn’t. I spent my life wondering what was wrong with me. And then the opportunity to find out arose and I jumped on it without thinking. My friend warned me to be careful, but I wasn’t. They did all these tests on me and while they determined the results, I guess they started training me, teaching me to fight. I didn’t question it. They gave me a serum and… well… today I was having a fight with my girlfriend and I started growing horns and these wings. My girlfriend saw me after and was terrified. She probably hates me now. They never taught me how to hide these kinds of things from humans,” the girl sighed. 

“It’s a bit shit that you were going to keep who you are from your girlfriend,” Hyejoo commented.

“I know, I was just afraid. I don’t really know what I am myself,” Heejin said, starting to cry again.

“Ew, stop crying. That’s gross,” Hyejoo said, her voice wobbling. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t cry. 

“I’m sorry, I cry all the time,” Heejin sobbed, wiping her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Sounds like your pretty dead set on finding out what you are, maybe do that. Or go and beg your girlfriend for forgiveness,” the fallen angel deadpanned. Heejin sniffled. 

“Yeah, okay,” she pouted. She began to tilt towards Hyejoo, as if she was going to lean on her. The fallen angel curled her lip and shuffled away. She was having none of that. 

She continued to stew in her anger while Heejin seemed to seriously consider the angel’s words. Suddenly, the demon girl stood up.

“I know what I have to do,” Heejin announced. “I have to finish my mission, I have to find out who I am. And then… then I can win back Hyunjin. I’ll win her back and we can get married and have kids and be together forever and ever.”

“Who the fuck is Hyunjin?” Hyejoo asked while Heejin took off running. She leapt off the roof and flew through the night. Hyejoo watched her fly away and scoffed. Stupid little demon.

She’d been deserted again. She knew she wasn’t always the best company, but it hurt nonetheless. 

Hyejoo stood and huffed. What was she supposed to do now?

She supposed the first thing she should do was descend the building. So that’s what she did, she started to descend the building. 

About half way down, something caught her eye. A flash of something in the mirror. It was a flash of colour in an otherwise grey room. The fallen angel approached the mirror, but all she saw was her reflection. Her black wings were the last thing she wanted to see. 

Something bubbled and spilled over in her boiling insides. Hyejoo lashed out and punched the mirror. It shattered around her fist. Sharps shards came clattering around her feet. She wouldn’t cry. She refused to. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t cry.

Hyejoo turned around.

She was no longer alone. 

Two young women stood in front of her. 

One had one purple eye, the other had one blue eye.

Hyejoo backed up against the mirror, her fist slowly curled around one of the mirror’s shards. 

“Odd eyes,” she snarled. Hyejoo was very aware of the dangers such demons posed to her. Well, perhaps demon wasn’t quite the correct term for such creatures. However, their motivations and associations were almost always nefarious so perhaps the term ‘demon’ was fitting. Hyejoo resolved to refer to them as demons, surely, they only meant her harm. Everyone meant her harm.

In perfect synchronization, the two women walked towards the fallen angel. One of them, the one with the purple eye and the purple hair to match, began to smile. A tail flicked behind the one with the gleaming blue eye. She didn’t look threatening, but Hyejoo knew better. 

“Stay away from me, demons,” Hyejoo barked once the pair were close enough to be attacked. She thrust the sharp mirror sharp in her hand in front of them threateningly. The blue-eyed woman raised her eyebrows with an amused smile. 

“Relax, baby, we’re not here to hurt you,” she said. “My name is Jinsoul.”

The purple-haired girl gestured to herself with a respectful bow of her head.

“My name is Choerry,” she said, “It’s nice to meet you Olivia Hye.”

“That’s not my name,” Hyejoo spat. She lowered her dark eyes, “Not anymore anyway. How did you find me anyways?”

The purple-eyed girl giggled, “I saw you in the mirror. A lucky discovery.”

“Funny, we weren’t actually looking for you, we were looking for an interesting little demon. You, however, are far more valuable than her,” Jinsoul said with a chuckle. Choerry nudged her companion with an awkward clearing of her throat. 

Hyejoo lifted her chin, pulling herself out of her cowering posture. She puffed her chest out proudly and twitched her wings. She was accustomed to making herself look intimidating. 

“I’m valuable? What do you mean?” the fallen angel questioned. The pair of demons exchanged an unreadable glance. The tail of the blue-eyed girl twitched. “You’re not trying to drag me to fucking hell, are you? I won’t let you.”

“We won’t drag you anywhere,” Jinsoul laughed, “We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. However, we do have a proposition for you.”

Choerry slowly slinked towards Hyejoo and held her hand. With her other hand, she opened Hyejoo’s fist with a gentle push and placed something in the open palm. It was a folded over piece of paper. When she pulled away, Hyejoo was ashamed to admit that she missed the warm feeling of her hands encircling hers. Choerry beamed at her. 

“What do you want more than anything, Olivia Hye? If you could have anything in the world, anything you wanted. What would you ask for?” the purple-eyed girl asked. Her eye seemed to flash, although there was no light present to make it shine the way it did. Olivia Hye was not liar. She didn’t think Hyejoo was either. She prided herself on always telling the truth, and she wasn’t about to start lying. 

“Revenge, I want revenge. Everything bad that has happened to me happened because of one person. She made me suffer and I want to make her suffer in return,” Hyejoo declared passionately, her voice deep. The fire in her stomach and chest trickled up her throat, it burned her tongue. The acid and smoke built in her mouth, until she spat it out, “I want to make Yves suffer.”

The demons smiled at one another.

“What if we told you, we can help you do that?” Jinsoul smirked. Her eyes flickered down onto the piece paper which had been put into Hyejoo’s hand. 

The fallen angel slowly opened the piece of paper in her hand. 

It was a picture. 

It was a picture of Yves. And Chuu and Gowon and Jinsoul and Choerry and that demon girl, Heejin, and that fucking woman who was always with Chuu, interfering with angel business. There were a couple of other women in the picture, but Hyejoo didn’t give a shit about them. Yves was on the opposite end of the photo to Chuu and Gowon. She was between Choerry and Jinsoul, in fact. She seemed… pally with them. They seemed to be celebrating a birthday, if the cake in one woman’s hand was any indicating. They were all smiling, all of them. They all looked happy. Happiness, what the fuck was that? 

Hyejoo stared at the picture. Of course, Yves was surrounded by people, being happy. Of course, she did not repent for her sins on Earth. Yves was fucking happy and loved, and Hyejoo was alone. A horrible, buried part of her crawled out from the cave it had been shoved in. It craved chaos and bloodshed, and what it craved most was seeing Yves alone, seeing her suffer. It was desperate, and it would get what it wanted, no matter the cost. 

Hyejoo looked up. Both of the women had extended their hands towards her. 

“Come, little angel. Let’s arrange a little deal,” Jinsoul said hypnotically. 

She stared at the outstretched hands. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew, she knew that what she about to do would ruin her chances at happiness. She didn’t care. She truly believed she would never be happy until she saw Yves’ downfall. And her downfall wouldn’t be brought about by casting her from heavens. No. Only Hyejoo could bring about her downfall.

With aggressive resolve, Hyejoo reached out and held onto the hands of the two demons.

The ground shifted and her vision span. 

Hyejoo looked up at the burning sky. 

She never thought she’d see hell. How the tables turn.


	23. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! I hope everyone is okay. I started my exams this week so I am stress central right now. Unfortunately since exams have started, I won't really have any time for writing. I'll try to do some writing, but please don't expect any updates any time soon haha. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy. As always, I am open to feedback.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos.

Haseul was dreaming, she was sure of that. She didn’t dream very often, but she also didn’t ride a unicorn very often so there was something about that which gave it away. 

It was a green unicorn, handsome with a fluorescent pink horn. The imagination was a strange thing. She dreamt of Jungeun too. She dreamt Jungeun was flying above her, dipping down every so often to press her lips against Haseul’s head. 

She couldn’t feel the kisses, perhaps that was the real indication that this was a dream, a vision created by her mind. In fact, she couldn’t feel anything. Not the wind whipping against her face, not the soft fur of the unicorn and certainly not the harsh stone slamming against her when she tumbled off the unicorn. She was glad not to be in the Dream Realm, where everything felt real. The dream version of Jungeun turned and smiled at Haseul, then flew away. The green unicorn chased after her. 

Vexed, Haseul clambered to her feet and observed her surroundings. Perhaps this was a lucid dream, perhaps she had control. She tried to force her dream body to move to no avail. Of course, she never had control. 

Something flew through the blue sky, something like a shooting star. Haseul chased after it, pushing through the increasingly long grass. In the real world, it would have slapped against her face. 

The black object suddenly changed its trajectory and headed directly towards the Earth. Haseul watched it grow larger and larger. Directly in front of her, the now flaming object struck the ground, and passed through it like a knife through butter. She looked down at the gaping hole in the Earth and jumped into it. 

Something changed about the dream, but Haseul couldn’t put her finger on it. Perhaps it was the acrid smell of sulphur that invaded her nostrils, or the metallic tang the clung to her tongue. It may well have been the warmth that encircled her, making her sweat. 

She looked up at the red sky. It was if someone had thrown an inferno onto a black canvas. There was no sun, no stars, no clouds. 

She turned around suddenly she was in, what seemed to be, a cave. Or a castle. Or a temple of worship. There was a throne illuminated with golden light. A male figure was lazing on it, allowing creatures to pour a thick, black liquid into his mouth. He seemed human in appearance, other than the red eyes which cast red light over everything he gazed upon. However, if Haseul concentrated, there was something more to him, something much more. It was like a huge, skeletal creature with countless tentacles writhing behind him. Disgusting yet enthralling. 

A woman with jet black wings strode down carpet which lead to the demon. Heejin? No, she had no horns. Her face was masked by her dark hair. She was flanked by two other women. One of them turned to stare in Haseul’s direction. Her purple eye looked almost red in the dim light. There was no look of recognition, or any indication that she had seen Haseul. She mustn’t have been visible. Still, Haseul was intrigued and followed the trio down the carpet, getting closer to the beast on the throne.

When they reached the throne, the two women flanking the winged girl knelt. 

The man stood and walked down the steps to be in the same level as the women. He wasn’t particularly tall and nothing about the slender build and pale, tear dropped shaped face screamed danger. He wore a perfectly tailored suit the colour of fir trees and his perfectly black hair was slicked backwards. 

“Kneel,” he commanded the winged girl.

“I kneel for no one,” the girl spoke in a strikingly familiar voice. 

“You knelt once for your heavenly superiors and now you shall kneel for me,” he sneered, his red eyes flashing. He snapped his fingers and several winged, goblin like creatures descended from the stone roof. They swirled around the girl and tugged on her clothes and her wings, dragging her to a kneeling position. “See, that wasn’t so hard was it.”

The girl looked up at the male demon with a defiant snarl. Haseul caught a glimpse of her face and gasped. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. 

“What do you want from me?” she snarled. The demon grinned like a Cheshire cat. 

“I only want to give you everything your heart desires,” he said softly. He ascended the stairs and sat back on his throne. With a snap of his fingers, the winged goblins scattered and Olivia Hye stood, as did the girls beside her. The demon grinned, “I suppose I should, introduce myself. I am known by many names. More commonly, the Bargainer. You, my dear, may call me Mr Jeong.” 

The winged girl remained silent as her dark eyes raked over the demon judgingly. 

“I’m Hyejoo,” she said.

“Oh, I know who you are Olivia Hye. And I’d like to make a deal with you,” he chuckled maliciously.

“I’m listening,”

“I can give you the means, a direct path, to grant your wish. That is if, and only if, you agree to work for me,” the man proposed, lazing on his throne. 

The winged girl scowled, “Do you really expect an angel to willingly work for the likes of you? For unholy demons?”

The man laughed, “But, my dear, you’re not an angel anymore. You’re forsaken. And only I can give you what you want. Only I can help you. You won’t be alone anymore.”

The former angel looked conflicted. She remained silent and stared at the hand which was stretched out to her. Haseul noticed that one of the man’s fingers was missing. Odd. 

“Fine,” the girl said finally, “But I have a caveat. Leave her, Gowon, unharmed. If you, or any of your demons harm her, then the deal’s off.”

The demon smirked smugly, “Interesting caveat. I believe we have a deal.”

The two hands met in a handshake, and then world around Haseul began to spin.

Redness leaked out from the tornado that was spinning around Haseul. She could only remain motionless in confused hope. The vision settled.

Haseul seemed to be in someone’s house. She looked down and saw Sooyoung working out on the floor of her kitchen. The doorbell rang. Sooyoung clambered to her feet with a huff of annoyance and pulled open the door. It was Jinsoul and Choerry, the two Odd Eye girls. They were smiling at her. They walked into the house and closed the door behind them.

“I thought I made it clear that I didn’t want to see you two again,” Sooyoung said. Her back was to Haseul. The sports bra she wore made the two red scars on her back even more obvious. 

Jinsoul grinned impishly. She waved her tail as she opened Sooyoung’s window. Haseul didn’t know that Jinsoul had a tail, she wondered how she hid it. 

“Look,” Sooyoung sighed, her hand on her sweating forehead, “If you’ve come to try and convince me to join you guys again, it’s not happening. I know what I am… but I’m not too far gone to make an alliance with hell.” Haseul gasped and instinctively slapped her hand over her mouth. She needn’t have done that, they couldn’t see or hear her.

“That’s not why we’re here,” Jinsoul said. There was something about the guilty look on Choerry’s face that made Haseul feel nervous. Evidently Sooyoung noticed too, her hand wrapped around a free weight that had been left on the counter. 

“Don’t even think about trying to attack me, you won’t win,” she warned them, “Do you think that I don’t know what Jeong has done to you? Do you think I don’t know that he’s cut off most of your powers to force your submission? The Bargainer can be defeated, his deals aren’t set in stone.”

Choerry looked like a kicked puppy.

“I’m sorry, unnie. I really did want to be your friend, you should have joined us while you had the chance. Our master will destroy the Earth to get what he wants. And now, he wants you,” she said sadly. 

“A couple of tamed Odd Eyes don’t scare me,” Sooyoung snarled, “You’re no match for a former warrior of heaven.”

“No, but I am,” Haseul looked up at the girl who hovered above them all, her wings spanning the width of the room. Sooyoung looked terrified. 

“Fuck, Olivia, what happened to you?” she cried.

“You happened to me,” she spat. 

There was a flash of black and sickening crunch. Haseul averted her eyes. 

When she looked back up, she wasn’t in Sooyoung’s kitchen anymore. She didn’t get the chance to survey her surroundings. 

“Haseul, no!” 

Haseul turned around and saw the golden tip of a javelin heading straight towards her. She froze in panic. A body slammed into her front. The javelin struck, going straight through the body of the person who had protected her and embedding itself deep in her stomach. 

Haseul stared at Jungeun’s face. Her face was contorted into one of pain. She was wearing an eyepatch. 

“Jungeun,” Haseul whispered. 

“Haseul, I’m sorry I…” Jungeun said, her words labours. Her words were cut off by a heaving cough. Blood spilled from her mouth. She tried to say something else but gurgled and spluttered instead. Some of the blood sprayed all over Haseul’s face. 

Haseul heard someone else scream her name.

And then the vision was gone. 

Haseul could feel her heart racing, it pounded heavily against her chest. Expecting to see her own bedroom, she slowly opened her eyes. 

There was nothing.

Haseul looked down at her body. Her body was present. However, the space she was in contained nothing but darkness. 

“Haseul,” a woman’s voice called. Haseul turned her head in the direction of the voice. The moment she laid eyes on the speaker, a new world surrounded them. 

Suddenly, she was stood in a field. The sky was dark and tormented, clouds swirled viciously around the sky, centring around a sky-scraping tree. The top of the tree was luscious and green, but the bark turned from healthy brown to black and grey as it got closer to the ground. The base of the tree looked black and scarred, it’s roots gnarled and sick. 

Haseul frowned, “I thought you told me not to come back to the dream realm,” she turned accusingly to the woman beside her. The woman had changed since she saw her last. Her hair was purple now. She wore a red suit. 

“I am aware. I have not brought you to the dream realm, rather I, myself, am visiting your dreams,” Jiu explained softly, “I fear I cannot stay long, I am concerned the corruption will follow me to your mind.”

“That dream I just had, was that you?” Haseul caught on quickly. The purple-haired woman nodded sagely. “H-how? What did it mean?”

“It is a warning. In the Dream Realm, we can use the tree of language to view glimpses of the past, present and-”

“The future,” Haseul finished her sentence. The image of Jungeun’s face inches from hers, blood dribbling from her mouth, the javelin impaling them both, haunted her mind. 

“Possible futures,” Jiu finished, “I saw a glimpse for myself, collected the memories and showed them to you in a dream.” She suddenly laughed. Her smile could light up any room, Haseul noted, realising that she had never seen this woman smile before. “I didn’t think I’d be able to contact you. The corruption in the dream realm is making everything much more difficult and, well, Nephilim like yourself are notoriously difficult to send dreams to.”

Haseul froze, “Nephi what now?”

Jiu smiled mysteriously and turned to face the tree with a sigh.

“I fear I will not be able to make contact with you again, Jo Haseul,” she said wistfully, “The corruption has spread quicker than I expected. There aren’t enough of us left to fight it.”

“What corruption?” Haseul squeaked. 

“Corruption from hell. Not too long ago, we found a vestige of darkness implanted in our realm. It was harmless at first. Then it infected Yoohyeon and she, inadvertently, allowed the vestige to start spreading,” Jiu sighed sadly, “I miss my Yoohyeon. The monster you met, that wasn’t her.”

“I’m sorry. Can- can we help?” Haseul asked. The purple-haired woman shook her head.

“No, I am trying to find a way to seal off the dream realm. To contain the spreading corruption. So far, I have been unsuccessful. If it spreads to any other realms, especially the human realm, hell will have an advantage in the upcoming war,” Jiu frowned. She turned to Haseul, “Do you still have the gift I gave you?” Haseul nodded. “Good. At least she’ll be safe.”

“Who?”

“She’ll come to you, should you need her help,” Jiu looked up at the sky. She whipped her head to the right, as if she had heard something which Haseul did not, “Alas, I must leave. Remember, the future is murky and fate can be changed.”

Having spoken those final words, Jiu snapped her fingers. 

Immediately, Haseul’s eyes burst open and she sat up in her bed. She clutched her chest panting for breath. She opened up the draw of the cabinet next to her bed and pulled out two items, the stone given to her by Jungeun and the piri engraved with the letter ‘H’.

It seemed she had a lot of thinking to do.

Jiwoo came flying at Haseul with a barrage of high kicks and spins. Haseul dodged and blocked them with a natural ease. She knocked the fallen angel off balance with a forceful block and saw an opportunity as Jiwoo regained composure and lifted her leg to kick again. The short woman ducked under the foot which was aimed for her head and shoved her shoulder against Jiwoo’s chest. With a loud ‘oof’, the angel fell backwards. Haseul judged the short distance between them. Too far for an elbow jab, too short for a kick, perfect for a well-placed punch. An upper-cut to the stomach was what she chose. Haseul expected Jiwoo to jump backwards or block the strike however Haseul underestimated her own speed. The angel took the full force of the punch in her abdomen. Winded, she fell backwards. 

Haseul stared at the fallen angel on the ground in disbelief. Jiwoo looked up at Haseul clearly equally shocked. A grin lit up her face and she laughed loudly. 

“Nice one, unnie. A well-placed hit, that one. If you aim slightly higher and to the right, like, bottom right ribcage, you can go for a liver punch. That’s pretty nasty. Hit it right and hard enough, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to end a fight,” Jiwoo said as she propped herself up on her elbows. Haseul absorbed the information and nodded. She extended her hand to the fallen woman, the bruises on her knuckles already starting to heal. Jiwoo glanced at the reddish bruises. 

“Unnie, I need to teach you how to wrap your knuckles. I never got taught in heaven, we didn’t really do hand to hand combat, but my co-worker showed me one time after work,” the angel announced brightly. Haseul laughed and shook her head as she pulled her friend off the floor. 

The girls agreed to take a quick breather and walked to where they’d placed their water bottles, drinking the water hungrily. 

“I’m impressed with how quick you’re learning,” Jiwoo remarked suddenly, “I mean, it’s been what three weeks since I started training you?”

“Longer,” Haseul said gruffly, “Heejin disappeared on New Year’s Day and it’s the end of January now.”

Jiwoo nodded, “Of course. Human time takes some getting used to. Anyway, it’s amazing how quickly you’ve picked everything up and how quickly you’re improving. When we started, you couldn’t even throw a punch properly.”

Haseul smiled shyly and lowered her head.

“I guess,” she mumbled, “I still don’t really understand why you, an angel, know how to fight.”

“Well, I was a protector of other angels. And, of course, if the heavens were to be attacked, it would be lesser angels that would be sent to defend the heavens. The Cherubim protected God and the Seraphim, well, they chill with God and purify unworthy things. I reckon if a demon tried to attack God, the Seraphim would probably just burn that little bitch the moment it looked at God,” Jiwoo mused, her hand on her chin. Haseul watched her rant with a raised eyebrow. She didn’t think the rants were relevant, or even that interesting, but it was nice seeing Jiwoo talk about her past out of her own free will. Of course, since Haseul had cut Jiwoo’s wings off and seen her entire life, it would be ridiculous to try and hide her past. 

Jiwoo paused and regarded Haseul, “Seriously though, you’ve improved so much in nearly a month, it’s kind of scary.”

“You think?” Haseul squeaked. 

“Well, if I didn’t already know you weren’t human, you’re speed and strength and knack for fighting would definitely set off the alarm bells,” the angel said nonchalantly with a little chuckle. 

The shorter woman chewed her lip, then she spoke, “Y’know, someone recently called me a Nephilim. At least I think that’s what she said. Do you think…”

Chaewon interrupted the pair. Haseul turned to the door of the gym hall. Since the start of the new year, she and Jiwoo had been renting a room in the university gym for basic fighting and weapons training. Haseul didn’t want to be defenceless any longer, and she had a suspicion she would need to fight to keep her friends safe. She was especially suspicious that she’d need to fight to see Heejin again. 

The blonde former angel had entered the room quietly with Hyunjin close behind her. The cat-like girl, with her newly dyed red hair lurked behind her new roommate. After Heejin disappeared, her girlfriend claimed she couldn’t live in their empty apartment and, since there was no space in Haseul and Vivi’s flat, Chaewon offered to move in with her for the time-being. It was short of a miracle that Chaewon had dragged Hyunjin out of her home, away from her research and dedicated search for her girlfriend. 

Haseul grinned at the blonde and greeted the pair of girls. 

“I had a weird dream last night. I was visited by the dream realm, I think Jiu just let it slip,” Haseul laughed awkwardly. Chaewon pursed her lips and flicked her blonde tresses over her shoulder. 

“Well, Nephilim are the children born from the illicit… encounter… between a human and an angel. A fallen angel, of course,” the blonde mused. Jiwoo hummed and narrowed her eyes. 

“It would make a lot of sense. Nephilim are usually much faster, stronger and smarter than usual humans,” she pondered. Haseul thought about it. Obviously, she couldn’t confirm if this is what she was, but she supposed it did make sense. The random bursts of strength, her connection to the seraphic dagger, the demon attacks, JYP’s interest in her, perhaps even Jungeun. The dots were being connected. 

“It would explain a lot about you, unnie. Particularly the visions of the heavens,” Chaewon said. Hyunjin shifted uncomfortably next to the blonde angel. “How’s the training going?”

“Remarkably well,” Jiwoo answered for the shorter woman, “I reckon she can take me on, no problem.”

“I doubt she can take on both of us,” Chaewon raised her delicate eyebrow with a confident smirk. Haseul grinned as she rose to the challenge. 

“I bet I can. Unless, you’re too scared to take me on,” Haseul teased the small angel. The blonde removed her pretty jacket and picked up two of the wooden sticks against the wall. Practice swords. She threw one to Jiwoo, who snatched it out of the air effortlessly. 

“Shall we begin?” the cheery angel asked. 

“Wait, hang on, why are you two armed and not me? That’s not-” the last word got caught in her throat when she heard the unmistakeable sound of feet slapping against the floor. Haseul turned her head to see Chaewon racing towards her. She panicked, believing that she wouldn’t remember her training fast enough, but something instinctual kicked in. It was that familiar rush of energy that spread from her chest, pulsing through her body, forcing her into action.

As Chaewon was close enough to strike, it was almost like the world went into slow motion. Her arms raised her wooden weapon over her head, leaving her lower body undefended. Haseul side-stepped out of the way of the wooden stick aimed for her head. While Chaewon stepped heavily forwards, she hooked her foot round her assailant’s shin. Chaewon stumbled forwards, barely managing to keep upright. 

She heard something, it sounded like the whizz of air rushing past a moving weapon. It was odd how quickly she had learned to recognise the sound. Jiwoo was aiming for her side. Too high to jump, too low to slide under. She whipped around and slammed her forearm against Jiwoo’s effectively blocking the attack. With a well-placed kick to the chest, she knocked back the grinning angel. At just the right moment, she turned to land a punch on Chaewon’s shoulder before she could attack. Knowing who was the stronger attacker, Haseul kicked Jiwoo away once more. She kicked her stomach with enough force that Jiwoo fell onto the ground. 

That bought her enough time to focus on the weapon in Chaewon’s hands. She blocked her next attack and slammed her body against the small woman. Taking the opportunity, she wrestled the wooden stick out of her hands. Just in time, Jiwoo was back on her feet and racing towards her. 

Now the real battle had started. Haseul parried Jiwoo’s attacks and tried to bring in her own. Chaewon reappeared with another wooden practice sword. Impressively, she leapt over Haseul’s head and barrelled towards her. Fending off two angels with superhuman strength and speed was no easy feat. 

But it wasn’t impossible. 

Haseul quickly judged their attacks while she remained defensive. She knew she was tiring, and she remembered Jiwoo warning her that fatigue was her real enemy. She had to turn the tables. 

Haseul decided to take a risk. She blocked Chaewon’s attack with a forceful whack and kicked Jiwoo’s side. She then turned and ran to the walls of the gym, which were lined with wooden ladders and nets. Gracefully, she dropped her weapon and then she climbed up on one of the nets. Jiwoo followed her up the nets while Chaewon remained on the floor. 

She felt a hand on her ankle. Gripping onto the net, she used her other foot to kick Jiwoo’s head. And then, impressively, she launched herself off the wall. 

Chaewon was not prepared to have Haseul land on her head, she clearly had faith in Jiwoo getting to Haseul first. She fell backwards onto her back and Haseul was sat on her chest. The blonde held her hands up in defeat, but there was a smug smirk curling her lip upwards. 

Instinctively, Haseul rolled off the blonde and picked up the angel’s dropped wooden stick. Sure enough, Jiwoo’s foot came flying at her head. She lifted her weapon above her head. When the angel landed on it, the stick snapped in half. Haseul fell backwards due to the force of the strike on her chest. She recovered quickly and fought back, striking Jiwoo with the halves of the broken wooden sword. She knocked her backwards and the angel raised her hands in defeat. 

“Holy shit!” Hyunjin exclaimed, watching Haseul help Chaewon off the floor, her chest heaving as she felt the strange energy pulse through her body. “Do you know how fast you guys were moving? You were like blurs! I could barely see you!”

“We were going that fast?” Haseul asked breathlessly. 

“Didn’t you know how fast you were moving, unnie? Even with my speed I could barely keep up with you,” Jiwoo exclaimed, her cheeks flushed red with excitement. 

“You guys are amazing! At least I can stop worrying about that, once we find Heejin you’ll be able to rescue her easily!” Hyunjin cried, clapping her hands together. Haseul winced. Ah, that must have been why Hyunjin had left her apartment. It was to see if they’d made any progress. 

Taking her bottle of water, Haseul slumped onto the floor. The angels sat on either side of her, with Hyunjin sitting in front of her. 

“So, I have an idea about where Heejin may be,” Hyunjin announced.

“JYP,” Haseul said. 

“Unnie, that was a dead end. Vivi unnie said that Tzuyu unnie said that she couldn’t find Heejin,” Hyunjin said. 

“Well, I still don’t trust them. I think they have her,” Haseul declared. Chaewon glanced at her judgingly. 

“Anyway…” Hyunjin continued, “I think we have to consider the possibility that she could be in hell. 

“Well, it is a possibility,” Jiwoo conceded, “But if hell has taken her, she’ll be lost forever.”

Hyunjin scoffed, “I don’t think so. If she’s there, maybe we can get a demon to go and find her, maybe even bring her back.”

Haseul frowned. Was Hyunjin really suggesting what she thought she was?

“Hyunjin, you idiot, you can’t just summon a demon and make them do what you want,” Chaewon berated her friend. 

Haseul gasped, “Oh my god, Hyunjin! Summoning a demon is crazy!”

“And very unsafe,” Jiwoo butted in, “Demons are unpredictable. Even if you manage to summon a demon, there’s nothing to say that it won’t kill you.”

“But there’s a chance that it’ll work, right? That I can contain the demon and it’ll do my bidding,” Hyunjin asked optimistically. 

“Well, yeah,” Jiwoo began. The human tried to speak but she was cut off, “But the chances are slim. You’re more likely to get yourself killed.”

“And, I really think that Heejin is with JYP. Maybe even on her own volition,” Haseul spoke up. Hyunjin frowned.

“Yeah, but from everything you’ve said, it sounds like JYP is evil. I don’t think Heejin would have gone back there voluntarily,” Hyunjin said. 

“I know it seems crazy,” Haseul admitted, “But Heejin really scared herself, and she scared you, Hyunjin. I think those people at JYP got in her head and made her believe that they were the only ones could help her. I think she thought they could teach her to be human and to control her powers. I think she just wanted you to love her, Hyunjin.”

“Oh, so this my fault then, is it?” Hyunjin said in an uncommon explosion of emotion. “How else was I supposed to react when you find out that your girlfriend, no, your childhood best friend, has been lying to you and is actually part demon! I heard what went on in that bathroom and it sounded like she was trying to kill you, I had every right to fear her. That doesn’t mean I don’t love her!”

“Hyunjin that’s not what I was saying,” Haseul replied snarkily, “Heejin knew you loved her.”

“Stop using past tense!” the cat-like girl suddenly exploded. She leapt to her feet. “You keep on saying it like she’s dead! She’s not! And I’ll do whatever I can to find her!”

Hyunjin turned on her heel and marched towards the door. 

“Wait, Hyunjin, where are you going?” Haseul cried. 

“Home!” she shouted back abruptly. 

Jiwoo and Chaewon exchanged a glance of panic. 

“Wait, Hyunjin, we can talk some more. Don’t do anything rash,” Jiwoo cried. 

“And don’t even think about summoning a demon,” Chaewon warned. Haseul fought back a chuckle when she saw the blonde point her finger intimidatingly at Hyunjin. The angel looked like a porcelain doll and her crunchy voice was the least scary noise in existence. However, her intensity was enough to make Hyunjin gulp. Although she supposed that the human had just watched Chaewon move way faster than any human. 

“Well, apparently, it’s stupid and will get me killed so I’ll have to wait for the superhuman angels to save my girlfriend for me,” Hyunjin spat back bitterly. She strode off, slamming the gym door behind her. 

“Should we go after her?” Jiwoo asked awkwardly. Chaewon shook her head.

“Nah, she’s always saying shit like that at home. But she cools down and apologises,” the angel shrugged, “Lowkey though, I think she’s kind of jealous of us.”

“I don’t know,” Haseul trailed off. 

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She glanced briefly to see who it was from. Having seen that it was from Vivi, she deemed it important enough to read the message. 

‘T has info. Meeting at campus coffee shop. Come quick. T will only speak if you’re there.’

“Guys, it looks like we have a lead,” Haseul showed the message to the two angels. 

“It might be a trap,” Chaewon pointed out. 

“Maybe we should go after Hyunjin,” Jiwoo fretted. 

“I can’t see them doing anything in a public place,” Haseul said, “But I think we should stick together just in case, strength in numbers.”

“What if Hyunjin does something stupid?” 

“She won’t, I have faith in her. And the sooner we find out Tzuyu has to tell Vivi, the sooner we can tell Hyunjin,” Haseul pointed out. 

Jiwoo mulled it over and nodded. 

Haseul truly hoped that this meeting would bring good news.

The angels entered the coffee shop first. They kept their face masks on and linked arms, as if they were a pair of cautious friends. Their cute outfits were enough to quell any regular person’s suspicions. Haseul watched them buy a coffee each and sit at a table near the back. Nervously, she watched their eyes scan the room for anyone they recognised. It seemed they recognised nobody, for they gave Haseul a sneaky thumbs up. 

Not even bothering to consider buying a coffee, Haseul strode into the coffee shop and seated herself beside her ex-girlfriend. Vivi was sat by herself, nobody had joined her yet.

“What did Tzuyu say?” Haseul whispered harshly. Vivi shrugged.

“She said she found some information,” she answered, “Now, Haseul, I don’t think you should get your hopes up. Tzuyu said that Jihyo has been extra secretive since Christmas and that she had been working on a secret project. I personally think that you were the secret project, it might not be Heejin.”

“I know,” Haseul said, “But a conformation that Heejin isn’t there is better than nothing.”

With impeccable timing, a very tall feminine figure entered the small coffee shop. The top of her head scraped against the ceiling, falling her to awkwardly crouch as she walked. She spotted Vivi almost immediately. Her face was blank as she headed over to the seated pair. Haseul noticed a short woman, probably around her own height, enter a few moments later. She didn’t recognise the woman, but she did have her hood up. Perhaps this wasn’t a trap after all. 

Tzuyu pulled a brown paper envelope out of her coat and placed it in front of the table. When Haseul reached out to pick it up, Tzuyu placed her hand on top of the envelope. 

“Be careful with it, this is for you to read, not keep,” she warned, “And be quick, I need to return this before anyone notices it missing.”

Haseul nodded and carefully opened the envelope. She pulled out a file and scowled at the name on the folder. 

‘Jeon Heejin’. 

She opened the file and flicked through the finger prints, DNA data and psychological information. She found a diary-like document at the end of the file. It seemed to be a handwritten report of Heejin’s progress, staring from November. Haseul’s eyes scanned over the words. She didn’t understand a word of it. It wasn’t Korean. Vivi peeked her head over Haseul’s shoulder. 

“Intelligent but slow to learn, seemingly incapable of multitasking,” she read the Mandarin characters slowly. Vivi flicked over the page. “Increasing kind and sweet. Gets on well with the other cambions. Jihyo has suggested that she join Itzy project but I have doubts. She is too soft, it will destroy her. Jeongyeon wants to try out her serum, perhaps that would be better.”

A light blush coated Tzuyu’s cheeks. The intimidating girl coughed to clear her throat.

“My role in JYP, since the Twice initiative in on hiatus, is to train the younger cambions that we’ve taken in. That is my, um, progress report. Heejin was a very sweet girl, but she was too soft. There’s no way I could have formed her into a warrior without breaking a part of her. I told her that I didn’t think she was true cambion but she may have just been late bloomer,” the tall woman announced. “The serum, it was supposed to make her demonic attributes grow at a safe rate in a controlled environment. You see, we can’t learn glamours if we don’t have our attributes. It didn’t work.”

“No, it didn’t,” Haseul growled, “You put Heejin in danger by giving her that serum shit.”

“I know, but there can’t be progress without risks,” Tzuyu argued calmly. Haseul bit her tongue and sat back. The tall demon cleared her throat once more, “If you turn over the report by a few pages, you’ll see why I brought it to you.”

Haseul flipped over the page until she saw it. The handwriting changed, the shapes of the inscribed words changed completely. In fact, the language had changed completely. The diary had been written in Korean. 

“I don’t understand,” Haseul said, glancing at the words.

“That’s Jihyo’s handwriting. And look at the dates,”

They were all 2020, they were all recent. 

“Heejin is at JYP!” Haseul exclaimed a little too loudly. Vivi’s scowl deepened. 

“Have you seen her?” she asked. Tzuyu shook her head.

“Ever since… well, something happened to Jihyo and ever since then she’d been secretive. At the start of the new year, she stopped talking to select group of us completely, myself included. I believed she was hiding something, and I think she may be hiding Heejin. I don’t know why. She only really speaks to Nayeon and Jeongyeon now and even they don’t know what’s happening. A small group of us are trying to find out what Park Jinyoung and Jihyo are hiding, but you must remember that we really aren’t the bad guys,” the demon said passionately. Haseul raised her eyebrow.

“You guys keep on saying that you aren’t the bad guys and then contradict yourself with your actions. Last time I heard that, Jihyo fucking sedated and kidnapped me,” Haseul scoffed loudly. 

“She kidnapped you?” came an unfamiliar voice. The short girl who had followed Tzuyu into the coffee shop was suddenly stood behind her chair. “She told Mina she dropped you off at the Church after she sedated you for Mina’s safety.”

Tzuyu’s permanent scowl deepened, “I told you Jihyo’s hiding something. Ever since… y’know… she changed,” she said furiously to the short woman. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Sana will be heart-broken.”

The short woman rubbed the half-demon’s shoulder comfortingly. Even when seated, Tzuyu’s shoulders were above those of the other woman.

Surprisingly, Vivi reached forwards to touch her friend’s hand comfortingly.

“I understand what it’s like to be forced to do things you aren’t comfortable with doing. Just remember, it’s not always your fault and you do have a choice, there’s always a way out,” she said softly. Tzuyu smirked and scoffed.

“I think we should change the motto of our group to ‘there’s always a way out’. We tell each other that often enough,” she chuckled darkly. Her bitter laughter was mimicked by Vivi. Sometimes Haseul thought she knew everything there was to know about her ex-girlfriend, then she’d say something like that which would remind her that the complete opposite was true. 

Suddenly, Haseul was aware of a presence behind her. She turned to see Jiwoo and Chaewon looking down at her. Both wore expressions of concern, regret and agitation.

“Haseul, we have a serious problem,” Jiwoo squeaked. Chaewon gravely placed her phone in front of the short-haired woman.

On the screen was a picture of a crudely drawn pentagram on a wooden floor. It was white, probably made of salt. At each tip of the star there was a candle and there was a chalice in the centre of symbol. There was an open book in front of the pentagram. Haseul recognised the drawing of the figure on one of the pages. It was the demon from her dream. Hyunjin was in the corner of the photo, posing with her signature black expression and an awkward peace sign.

Well, fuck. 

Vivi glanced over Haseul’s shoulder at the photo. Her face became devoid of any colour. Her grip on her own thigh became so tight her hands were turning white. 

“We have to go and stop her, before it’s too late,” the Cantonese woman said, her voice shaking with fear. Haseul knew better than to ask. She nodded firmly and stood quickly. 

“You’ll have to excuse us, Heejin’s girlfriend is attempting to summon a demon so we must take our leave,” Haseul declared blankly. As she began to move to the door, the short woman stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

“Wait, let us come with you,” she asked, “In case things go wrong.”

“No offense, but I don’t really trust you guys, not after you kidnapped my sister, kidnapped me and basically brainwashed and experimented on my friend. I think we can handle ourselves,” Haseul deadpanned. The woman in front of her refused to move.

“Please,” she pleaded, “If things go wrong, there’ll be a demon on the loose. You’ll need experienced demon hunters on your side,”

Tzuyu stood up, her full height even more intimidating up close. 

“Chaeyoung is right,” she said softly, “If your friend succeeds in summoning a demon, she will be in extreme danger. Three untrained humans and an untrained half-breed will be no match for a demon.”

Haseul bit her lip, she sure as hell wasn’t going to reveal that Jiwoo and Chaewon were fallen angels. Vivi may have trusted the tall half-demon, but that didn’t mean she did. Unfortunately, she did have a point. If Hyunjin did manage to summon a demon, there’s no telling what it would do to her. All this standing around and arguing was wasting valuable time. 

The short woman conceded with a nod and the other short woman, Chaeyoung, stepped aside with a triumphant grin.

Haseul wasn’t one for prayer, but desperate times call for desperate measure. She genuinely prayed that Hyunjin wouldn’t succeed. Especially since they all knew that Heejin wasn’t in hell, not literally anyway. 

The group of women stood outside the door to Hyunjin’s flat. They were lucky that Chaewon knew the building code, otherwise they would have never got into the building. It was silent, completely silent. Haseul knew how quiet Hyunjin could be, she prayed her friend was just listening to music or shitting or doing literally anything other than summoning a demon.

“It’s quiet, that’s a good sign,” Jiwoo squeaked. 

“Not necessarily,” Tzuyu drawled. She ignored the warning look her tiny colleague shot her. Chaeyoung rested her cross-bow on her hip. 

The two women from JYP had offered to drive them all to Hyunjin’s apartment. Haseul had, unwillingly, agreed to let them drive them. She probably would have got there quicker if she had walked, Chaeyoung drove like a grandma. Although apparently, that was because she didn’t have her license and had stolen the car off her friend. They made Tzuyu sit in the boot. At least that was amusing. 

Chaewon stepped forwards and pushed on the door. It was locked. 

“Fuck, I forgot my key,” she swore. Haseul bit back a small laugh, it was always funny when the little blonde swore. It was like a five-year-old swearing, except this five-year-old swore constantly. The blonde angel rolled her eyes and knocked on the door aggressively. “Open up, you stupid furry,” she yelled at the door. 

The silence suddenly became much eerier. 

The short JYP agent stepped forwards and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked a bit like a small USB drive. She held it towards the key hole and pushed in the tip. A faint whirring sound followed, soon a quick click made the agent pull the device out of the keyhole. Grinning, Chaeyoung pushed the door. She stepped back as the door swung back on its hinges. 

Haseul stepped inside the hallway of the flat first, flanked by the two angels. The other three women brought up the rear. The door clicked shut behind them. 

Slowly, Haseul stepped through the apartment, silently approaching Hyunjin’s kitchen. She felt like her heart was in her mouth. All she could hear was the soft footsteps and heavy breaths of the women behind her. 

The kitchen was a mess. 

A pentagram lay in the centre of the room. The candles which had been at each tip were strewn across the room. There was an acrid stench of sulphur, though Haseul suspected it wasn’t from the burnt-out candles. A small puddle of blood lay next to the pentagram. There was broken glass all over the kitchen and random utensils and smashed eggs strewn all over the floor. A black goo dripped from one of the counter tops. As Haseul approached the pentagram, she noticed that it was incomplete, a part of it had been wiped away. That wasn’t a good sign.

On the other side of the kitchen laid Hyunjin. Her body was slumped up against the wall. A bloody stripe lined the wall behind her. Without even thinking, Haseul raced towards her friend, closely followed by the blonde angel. Her skin was lined with cuts and scratches, although none of them looked serious enough to have caused her unconsciousness. 

Chaewon’s fingers were on Hyunjin’s neck, a frown on the angel’s face.

“There’s a pulse,” she said firmly, “It’s faint but it’s there.”

Haseul heard a shifting behind her. Chaeyoung had her crossbow aimed at Hyunjin while Tzuyu was crouched next to a crouching Vivi. 

The book Hyunjin had used lay at Vivi’s feet. Her face was devoid of any colour, her hand over her mouth, her eyes focussed on the book. Tzuyu was whispering to her, too quiet to be heard. 

Haseul frowned at Chaeyoung. The short girl aimed her crossbow elsewhere. 

“It may be a trap,” she whispered furiously. 

Stubbornly, Haseul ignored the JYP agent and gently caressed Hyunjin’s soft cheek.

“Oh, Hyunjin,” she cooed, “What have you done?”

Suddenly, Hyunjin’s eyes flew open. They were glowing yellow. 

“Your mother,” Hyunjin said, her voice deeper and more gravelly than usual. 

It struck Haseul a few moments too late. 

This wasn’t Hyunjin.

A strike to the face sent Haseul flying backwards. She heard her nose break before she felt it. Pain forced tears to well up in her eyes. 

A twang followed by a scream made Haseul look back at what used to be Hyunjin. A crossbow bolt lay directly in the centre of its hand. With a horrible screech, the Hyunjin creature ripped the bolt out it’s hand and thrust it into Chaewon’s shoulder. The angel let out a cry of pain and fell back against the wall. 

Chaeyoung had reloaded her crossbow and had it aimed at Hyunjin once more.

“Wait, don’t kill her,” Haseul cried. Perhaps it was still Hyunjin, perhaps Hyunjin was still in the body. She hoped her assumption was correct and that this wasn’t some awful shape-shifting demon. 

It the moment of distraction, Hyunjin leapt towards the JYP agent and pushed the crossbow upwards, setting it off. The bolt struck the light bulb handing from the ceiling. Small shards of glass rained down on them. 

“Protect the humans,” Haseul heard Tzuyu say. She looked up again and saw Jiwoo step in front of Vivi, guiding her out of Hyunjin’s warpath. 

In the centre of the kitchen, Hyunjin fought viciously against the two JYP agents. 

Suddenly, all of the cupboard doors burst open at the same time. 

The creature laughed, a deep, horrible laugh. It waved it’s arms and with each wave a plate, bowl or glass came flying out of the cupboards, each one aimed at the JYP agents. 

Chaewon lay on the floor. Haseul watched her pull the crossbow bolt out of her shoulder and stuff a stray kitchen towel against the wound. She visibly gritted her teeth and threw her head back in a silent scream. 

Haseul looked at the horrible fight in the centre of the kitchen. The agents looked like they might lose. She wasn’t having that. She would save her friend, of course she would. Haseul wiped some of the blood off her face. She silently stood and crept towards the kitchen counter, picking up a rolling pin. 

While the Hyunjin creature was distracted, she rushed towards it with the rolling pin raised. With all the force she could muster, she slammed the makeshift weapon down onto Hyunjin’s head and hoped she didn’t cause any brain damage. 

The body crumpled to the floor. 

Immediately, both Chaeyoung and Tzuyu leapt forwards and pinned the body to the floor. 

The Taiwanese demon looked up at Haseul with a serious frown.

“Haseul, your friend has been possessed,” she said, “We have two options. Destroy the vessel,”

“Not an option,” Haseul interrupted.

“Right. Or we exorcise the demon from her body,” Tzuyu told her. Before Haseul could speak, Chaeyoung interrupted. 

“None of us are able to perform holy exorcisms,” she cried, “Even then, exorcisms are only partially successful. The only way we can guarantee full removal of the spirit is to forcibly remove it.”

“And only those with blessed blood can perform that sort of task,” Tzuyu snapped at her fellow agent, “Where are we supposed to find an angel at such short notice?”

Haseul glanced at the blonde girl on the floor, “Would a fallen angel work?”

The agents shook their heads, “No, when their wings are removed, the heavenly fire leaves them and dissipates. Their blood is no longer blessed.”

Haseul suddenly remembered the cloud of fire-like energy that had left Jiwoo when her wings had been cut off, and she remembered the odd rush she felt when she absorbed it. 

“What about a child of an angel?” Jiwoo asked, stepping forwards. 

“That could work,” Chaeyoung piped up, “It’s either that or call Dahyunnie, ask her to do the exorcism.” 

Haseul shook her head vehemently. 

“No, I don’t want to put any more people in danger, or get anyone else involved,” she said firmly, “I’ll do it, just tell me what I need to go.”

Her nose still bleeding and pounding with pain, Haseul strode towards the unconscious body on the kitchen floor. Both agents looked baffled. They exchanged a look, but the shorter of the pair simply shrugged.

“Well, come sit in a stable position. Put your hand on her heart,” Chaeyoung commanded. Haseul did as she was told. She felt Hyunjin’s heart beating against her hand. “You can feel her heart beat, right? Focus on that. Keep focussing on it. Eventually your own heart beat will match hers. You should feel something solid, grab it and pull. 

Haseul breathed in deeply and pushed her hand gently against Hyunjin’s chest. She felt the heart beat on her hand. Slowly, the pulse on her hand travelled up her arm. It was a familiar sensation, like the pulsing she felt when holding the seraphic dagger. Soon the pulsing intensified and travelled across her shoulders, making its way towards her chest. Haseul closed her eyes and focussed on the strange sensation. Her heart was beating to a different rhythm, making the pounding in her chest almost painful. She gritted her teeth and fought through it. Surely enough, her heart slowed to match Hyunjin’s slow rhythm.

The pain in her chest was alleviated. As the pain faded, the solid body beneath Haseul’s hand gave way. She slowly pushed her hand down. It felt like she was pushing her hand into a vat of goo. Unnerved, Haseul opened her eyes and saw that she was wrist-deep was inside of Hyunjin’s chest. But there was no blood, no nothing. 

Suddenly, Haseul felt something solid. It shied away from her, making Haseul reach in deeper to find it again. As soon as she touched the smooth thing, she grabbed it and pulled. 

The thing fought against her and she pulled it upwards. She heaved with all the strength she could muster, the now familiar energy coursing through her entire being. Haseul shoved her other hand into Hyunjin’s chest, holding onto the thing with both hands. Her grip adjusted, she pulled with all her might.

Slowly, as if she was pulling it out of treacle, she pulled the thing out of Hyunjin’s body. 

Its head emerged from Hyunjin’s head, then it’s shoulders and chest followed. Haseul gave the reddish skinned creature another tug, but it wouldn’t come out any further. 

“Oh, fuck, I think it’s stuck,” Haseul said as she began to repeatedly tug on the creature. 

The creature was hideous. It had skin the colour raw beef, eyes the colour sulphur and hair the colour of milk so sour it had become cheese. Funnily enough, that’s what it stank of, raw beef, sulphur and sour milk. Haseul couldn’t hold her nose even if she wanted to. Partially because she didn’t want to lose her grip on the demon, but also because it would hurt too much to touch her possibly broken nose. The demon began to laugh, a horrible screeching sound filled Haseul’s ears. Hyunjin’s eyes flew open. They still burnt yellow. The same horrific laugh came out of her mouth. Haseul was failing. 

“I think it’s tethered,” Tzuyu said, “It’s possible for demons to tether themselves to their targets. But how?”

“Oh God,” the words were spoken by Vivi. Haseul turned to look at her ex. Her eyes were dark and filled with terror, her face was turning green. Her eyes were fixed on the portrait which remained unharmed on the kitchen wall. The portrait she had created. The portrait of Hyunjin with burning yellow eyes. 

Suddenly, Vivi pushed Jiwoo out of the way. She strode towards the kitchen counter and pulled a large chef’s knife out of a draw. Purposefully, she marched towards the portrait. Haseul watched it happen in slow motion. Vivi raised her arm and pierced the top of the painting. With a scream of anguish, she pulled the knife down, tearing the canvas. The painted Hyunjin was torn in half, and something snapped with sickening twang. 

The demon came flying out of Hyunjin’s body. 

Haseul ignored the demon and shook Hyunjin’s body. There was no response. She felt for a pulse, and found nothing. Oh fuck. 

“You stupid fucks,” the demon laughed with a screech, “You should have destroyed me when you had the chance. The girl’s soul is burning in hell! Stupid girl made a deal with my master. And now, you stupid fucks have to deal with my full power.”

The demon clapped its horribly twisted hands. Suddenly, all the crockery and glasses flew out of the open cupboards. They flew around the kitchen at incredible speed in a terrifying tornado. Tzuyu jumped in front of Vivi, using her ginormous height to shield her friend from the whizzing plates and bowls. 

One of the bowls knocked against the back of Haseul’s head. The impact forced her to floor. From her flattened position, she saw Chaeyoung fall. The JYP agent suffered a similar fate to her. Jiwoo was pushing her way through the chaos, avoiding and blocking the flying objects. Chaewon lay slumped up against the kitchen counter. She wasn’t moving. Fuck. 

The demon was heading towards Jiwoo with a horrible shark’s grin. Haseul noticed that the flying objects weren’t coming close to it. The eye of the hurricane. 

The demon reached Jiwoo and began to attack Jiwoo. Haseul was aware of Jiwoo’s competency, but even she struggled to fend off the whizzing objects and the barrage of attacks. Claws raked across her chest, blood bursting from the wounds. 

That was enough.

Haseul clambered to her feet and ran towards the demon.

The objects seemed to slow down around her, enough for her to see them heading towards her head. She yanked a plate out of the air and, as she reached the demon, slammed it against the demon’s cheek. It yowled loudly. 

The plates and bowls and glasses stopped in their tracks. They hung in the air dangerously. Out of the corner of her high, Haseul saw Tzuyu pick up her colleague and drag her, and Vivi, out of the kitchen. 

The demon screeched. It turned its attacks to Haseul. Both Jiwoo and Haseul fought the demon, dodging the objects in the air as they whirled around the kitchen. With a well-placed kick, Jiwoo knocked the creature to the ground. She leaped onto the creature’s chest and punched it again and again, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Suddenly, the demon stopped fighting back and simply grinned. Haseul froze and glanced at the glasses, plates and bowls which had concentrated above them. 

They all dropped simultaneously. 

Haseul raised her arms to protect her head and crouched, hoping that a small target would mean less impact. 

She didn’t feel a single thing land on her. A shadow fell over her. 

Haseul looked up. 

A stone statue had appeared above her. Its wings spread outwards, protecting both Haseul and Jiwoo from the onslaught of falling crockery. She looked into the statue’s stone eyes. Familiar eyes. Tusks jutted out over its feminine lip. She recognised this statue, it was one of the church’s gargoyles. 

“Jungeun,” she whispered. The stone eyes turned towards Haseul as whispered her name, it’s stone lips curved up in a timid smile. 

The demon screeched. 

The gargoyle stood upright, it’s wings slowly furled. It grabbed the demon’s neck and raised it upwards. The demon kicked and screamed, scrabbling and scratching at strong, stone forearms. 

Haseul glanced sideways, Jiwoo was on the floor, relatively unharmed. Chaewon was missing. Where the fuck was she?

“Viianne Wong!” the demon suddenly yelled, “Did you really think you wouldn’t pay? The Bargainer says ‘hello’!”

The tip of a knife burst through the demon’s chest. It looked down at the goo covered tip and its eyes widened. With a final screech, the demon exploded. Stinking, black goo flew out from its exploding body, coating everything it touched, including Haseul. 

Stood in the middle of the kitchen, a chef’s knife still raised in the air, was Chaewon. Her whole body was coated in black goo. Tutting, the blonde angel dropped her weapon and wiped the goo off her face. 

“Fucking disgusting,” she complained. Haseul was just glad she was fucking alive. 

Haseul turned to the stone statue, but, just as quickly as it had appeared, it had disappeared. Disorientated, Haseul slumped against the kitchen counter. 

“So, what now?” Jiwoo asked tentatively, “The demon said Hyunjin’s soul is in hell, what do we do?”

Haseul turned and saw Jiwoo’s eyes on her, as well as Chaewon’s and Vivi’s. It was at that moment she realised that her friends were looking to her to lead them. She didn’t want to be a leader, but it that’s what she had to do, she’d do it. Haseul thought for a moment. She straightened up and cleared her throat.

“We tell Heejin.”


	24. Chapter 20

The taxi journey to the JYP building was silent. The taxi driver kept on looking back at the girls with a confused scowl and shaking his head, muttering. Haseul wished they didn’t get a taxi, but she refused to let anyone go with her to JYP. Instead, she had to share a taxi with Tzuyu and Chaeyoung. The unconscious girl was lying on Haseul’s shoulder. They told the taxi driver that she had passed out drunk in the middle of the day. Haseul suspected that he didn’t believe them. 

What a mess they looked. At least the poor taxi driver would have a fun story to tell his family. He could tell them all about the three girls who came into his taxi, one of them wearing clothes that were covered in stinky, black patches of dried liquid and sporting a blackened nose. At Haseul had had the decency to wash the blood off her face. It was healing quite nicely now. He could tell his family about the three girls, all them covered in cuts and bruises, one of them completely unconscious. 

It felt like the taxi journey took hours, but it was only ten minutes, tops. Haseul payed the taxi driver and stepped out the car while Tzuyu gathered her tiny friend in her arms. The small JYP agent looked even smaller in the giant half-demon’s arms. 

Stoically, Tzuyu lead the way into the JYP building. The receptionist buzzed her through the doors with no questions asked. Haseul followed a little sheepishly behind her. 

The first person they bumped into was Pastor Kim, who was skipping down the corridor hand in hand with her half-demon girlfriend. They both greeted their other girlfriend brightly and rushed towards her, at first gleefully. Then they noticed the short woman in her arms, and the hesitant woman behind her. 

The woman with the tail took Chaeyoung into her own arms in a surprising feat of strength, saying that they needed to get her to Mina. 

“Hello, Jo Haseul, what are you doing here?” Dahyun asked innocently. Haseul pouted. 

“Cut the bullshit,” the short-haired woman spat, “Where’s Heejin?”

“Oh, I was going to ask you the same thing,” the pastor said, completely unfazed by the other woman’s outburst. Haseul had a feeling Dahyun was used to aggressive outbursts. “I haven’t seen her here since, well, the start of the new year. Is she okay?”

Haseul wrinkled her nose, and immediately regretted it. 

“You know, you should really get your nose seen to, maybe we can get Mina to get a look at it,” the pale blonde suggested. 

“That’s a great idea, unnie, I’ll take her to Mina. Do you think Sana unnie has taken Chaeyoung to the first aid bay? Let’s go there, Haseul unnie,” Tzuyu said suddenly, even moving to push Haseul forwards. She bent down and kissed her tiny girlfriend on the lips and pushed Haseul to fuck knows where. 

“Unnie?” Haseul hissed. 

“Just go with it,” the tall demon whispered, “I need to speak with Mina. She, Chaeyoung and I are the only ones who will be completely honest with you.”

It wasn’t long before Haseul was pushed into, what looked like, a generic hospital room. It had several beds spread throughout the room, but only one of them was occupied. Chaeyoung had been placed on one of the beds, someone was connecting her to an IV drip and a heart monitor. Haseul easily recognised the woman’s white labcoat and soft voice. 

“Dr Myoui,” Haseul greeted the shy doctor. She looked up at Haseul and took a defensive step backwards. “Oh, I’m not here to hurt you. I actually want to apologise if I scared you last time we met, I’m sorry I lost my temper. And, thank you for telling me the truth.”

The woman smiled and pushed back her hair. 

“It’s nice to see you alive and well, I hope Jihyo wasn’t too rough with you when she removed you from my office,” Dr Myoui replied graciously. Haseul snorted while Tzuyu shifted uncomfortably. 

“About that,” she began. The half-demon filled her colleague in on the story of how Haseul had been sedated and placed in a jail cell by Jihyo. She also let her know that their leader had been hiding a potentially volatile part-demon in their building. 

“D-do you think the others know? Do you think Jihyo knows that we’ve been going behind her back?” the doctor stammered. The giant demon shrugged. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “I don’t think my girlfriends knew, but I’m not sure about Jeongyeon and Nayeon. And Jihyo, I hope she doesn’t know.”

“If you don’t agree with what she’s doing, why do you keep on following her?” Haseul piped up. The other two women sighed. 

“It’s more complicated than that,” Tzuyu said bitterly. The doctor nodded in agreement. 

“Jihyo isn’t just doing things on her own accord, she’s also following our director’s orders, just like everyone else. He’s preparing for her to take over the company, the stress is hard on her,” Mina explained softly, “We just… we all agree with the mission and our task, we can’t abandon that. We just think that the path we have taken to achieve our goal is wrong one and we are hoping to set it right. But Jihyo won’t listen to us anymore. Especially not after…” she trailed off. Haseul scowled. 

“So, what actually happened to her that made her cold?” Haseul asked. The half-demon’s sigh was heavy. 

“I shouldn’t be telling you this,” she said, “But Jihyo used to be very kind and gentle, she’d always talk to the demons we captured and persuade them to join us before the Director ordered their death. But to cut a long story short, Jihyo fell in love with an angel we had captured and he fell in love with her too, his wings even began to whither. Our director planned to experiment on him, or force him to sire children but Jihyo couldn’t see him hurt. She planned to set him free but got caught. Director Park gave her an ultimatum, kill him or leave the company forever. Well, she came back the next day with his bloodied wings. She vowed not to get personally involved with any of the creatures we captured ever again.”

Haseul bowed her head with a frown. She wondered if it was guilt that made her cold. The story didn’t make her feel sorry for the woman, and she began to panic. She wondered if her own trauma was making her the same, cold and unfeeling. Surely not. 

“I think we both know that’s not the whole story,” 

Haseul whipped around and saw Park Jihyo leant against the doorway. 

“Jo Haseul, I’m surprised to see you again, to what do I owe you the pleasure?” she drawled. She was wearing a long coat with long sleeves. Her hands were tucked into the coat’s pockets. 

Haseul fought to remain calm and coolly replied, “I think you know why I’m here.”

Jihyo raised her eyebrows with a lazy smirk, “Of course.” The now blonde woman turned to the giant half-demon and held out her hand, “Tzuyu, may I have Jeon Heejin’s file back.”

Tzuyu went pale and shuffled awkwardly.

“Ugh, it got covered in demon goo and the pages turned to mush,” she replied awkwardly. Her leader raised her eyebrows again in amusement. 

“Well then, Mina, keep an eye on Chaeyoung. Tzuyu, go home. You look like you need the rest. Miss Jo, if you’d like to follow me, we can talk in private,” Jihyo ordered with complete authority. Haseul pointed her finger accusingly at her. 

“How do I know you won’t just kidnap me again?”

Jihyo held up one of her hands, “I promise that I won’t try to harm you or imprison you. I learnt my lesson from last time. You have some powerful allies, Jo Haseul.”

Haseul narrowed her eyes, “How do I know you haven’t crossed your fingers so it doesn’t count?”

The leader rolled her eyes and lifted her other hand. The long sleeve of her coat fell down her forearm. Haseul sucked in a disbelieving breath. In place of a hand, was a stump. So that’s where Jungeun got a severed hand from. 

“It’s a good job I’m ambidextrous,” Jihyo drawled as she shoved her stump back into her coat pocket. “Come on then, I think we need to talk, do we not?”

Warily, Haseul agreed. She followed Jihyo out of the hospital bay and prayed she wouldn’t regret it. 

As soon as they walked into the large office, Jihyo deflated. It was as if layers of proud bravado slipped off her. The cold, stern mask was removed. Haseul found herself staring at a woman who seemed truly exhausted, like the ache of weariness was deep-set in her bones. The woman removed her long coat and hung it up on a set of hooks on the wall. 

“Would you like a drink?” Jihyo asked, a tired smile on her face. Haseul stared at her awkwardly. 

“Uh, sure,” 

“Coffee or something stronger?” the leader asked. Her clever eyes raked up and down Haseul’s dishevelled appearance. She took in the black patches on her clothes, the tears and cuts on her body, the bruises on her face, particularly the purple patches that covered her nose and eyes. “Something stronger,” she muttered with a nod. 

Slowly, Jihyo bent down and opened what looked like a file cabinet. She pulled out an expensive looking bottle of amber liquid. She set it down on her desk then pulled out two beautiful crystal glasses. 

“I don’t share my good liquor with just anyone,” the woman chuckled, “But you’re not just anyone, are you?”

“I… guess not,” Haseul answered as she gingerly lowered herself into the seat opposite Jihyo’s desk. She watched suspiciously as the woman struggled to pour the alcohol into the tumblers with one hand. Quickly, she stoppered the bottle and put it back. She turned back to Haseul and took a sip from each glass.

“There you go, now you know it’s not poisoned,” Jihyo said with a heavy sigh as she offered one glass to the short woman. Hesitantly, Haseul took the glass and allowed herself to take a small sip of the amber liquid. She swirled it around her mouth, assessing the oaky taste, then swallowed it. It burnt her throat on the way down. 

“Good, isn’t it?” Jihyo asked with a friendly smile. Haseul raised her eyebrow suspiciously but nodded, she didn’t usually drink liquors but this was nice. “I thought you’d like it. I like it a lot. You and I have more similarities than differences,”

Haseul scoffed, “You and I are nothing alike.”

“Are we not?” Jihyo grinned, “We’re both short. We both look great with short hair. We’re both protective of our family and would do anything to protect them. People look to us as leaders, whether we want them to or not. We both have a heavenly protector. We both have holy blood in our veins.”

“Huh? Holy blood? What do you mean?” Haseul asked stupidly. Jihyo swirled the alcohol in her glass and leant back in her chair. 

“People with holy blood and unholy blood are very different, you know. Those with unholy blood, the demonic blood is dominant and it shows in their demonic traits. Cambions, the offspring of humans and demons, are gifted with the ability which their demonic parent possessed, but they are cursed with an innate darkness. Often their descent into darkness is mirrored by the growth of their demonic attributes. We watched it happen with Tzuyu, but she was lucky that she had someone, two someones, to save her from the darkness before it consumed her. I made Jeongyeon create a serum which would make a cambion’s traits grow quickly in a safe, controlled environment without the darkness settling in them,” Jihyo said. She sighed. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Haseul asked. Jihyo took a slow sip of her drink.

“I want you to understand,” she sighed again and took another sip of her drink. “Those with holy blood however, they don’t grow in the same way the children on demons do. Angelic blood can lay dormant within a person for their entire life. Some Nephilim die as humans. However, once triggered, the holy blood takes over, the fires of heaven consume their veins. With it comes strength, speed, immortality and enormous power. The fires consume some, it can kill them. Me and you, Haseul, we’re the lucky ones,” Jihyo smiled wryly. 

Haseul silently absorbed the information. It had started suddenly, had it not. When her hand had slipped over the ridges of Sooyoung’s scars, that’s when it had happened. She had seen the cruelty of the heavens and it was like it had made a puncture in the dam in her body. 

“So, you and I, we’re Nephilim?” Haseul squeaked. Jihyo nodded. “Then, what was your trigger?”

Jihyo knocked back her drink.

“You’ve been told about the Kang incident? Kang Danial was my trigger,” she said sadly. “He was captured by our director and imprisoned. The idea was to take his blood and create synthetic Nephilim. It didn’t work. I didn’t mean to fall in love with him, I just did. After we kissed for the first time, everything changed. All this energy was released in me and I had no way to control it. Danial helped. He protected me. And then Director Park found out about us, Danial’s wings were withering, and he gave me an ultimatum. Kill him or he’d kill him himself and I’d be exiled forever. I couldn’t leave JYP, I have too much to do here. I didn’t want him to die. Instead, I helped him escape and used his knife to cut off his wings.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks but she was amazingly composed. 

“You really loved him, huh?” Haseul couldn’t help but chuckle. Jihyo smiled. 

“I do love him. He’s not gone, I just can’t see him. The others don’t know, about me or about him. Since that happened, JYP began to step down, putting more responsibility on my shoulders. Clearly, I’m doing a really good job of running the company. I keep on making mistake, after mistake,” her hand came to rub her stump. 

“Why… why are you telling me this?” Haseul asked once more, completely bewildered. 

“I just need you to know that I’m not the evil bitch everyone thinks I am. I am trying to do what’s right for JYP and what’s right for humanity. There’s a war coming, Haseul. A great war between the heavens and hell. And our world will be caught in the cross fire. We need to be able to protect ourselves, that’s JYP’s mission. We want to try to prevent the war, but our efforts are focussed on evening the playing field. I want to do it more ethically than Director Park, I want to help the outcasts of the world, cambions and Nephilim and everything else in-between. I just, haven’t done a very good job,” Jihyo laughed bitterly. 

“If you’re planning on asking me to join you, my answer is no. I don’t want anything to do with JYP. You might be trying to do a good thing but you experiment on people and you keep secrets and… I… you drugged and kidnapped me!” Haseul exclaimed. 

“I understand,” Jihyo nodded sadly, “We really could have benefitted from having someone like you with us, but I get it. And, I’m sorry for drugging you. It wasn’t meant to happen like that. I panicked. I may be part angel, but I’m still human at my core.”

“I’m not going to forgive you,” Haseul said sternly. Jihyo shrugged. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” she said, “I suppose we should discuss what you came here for. Jeon Heejin. She came to me on her own will. I’m not going to just let you see her for no reason. She needs to be here, the serum unlocked a lot of hidden power and she can’t control it yet.”

“Park Jihyo, I didn’t come here to rescue Heejin. I came here to tell Heejin that her girlfriend is dead,” Haseul declared, raising her chin defiantly. 

“Ah.”

Heejin was swiftly brought into Jihyo’s office. Haseul stood as she heard the door open. As soon as her eyes lay on her friend, she rushed over to her, hugging her tightly. She felt Heejin tense up, then she felt her relax and wrap her arms around Haseul, returning her hug with equal intensity. 

“Heejin, thank fuck, you’re okay,” Haseul cried, her hand came to rest on her friend’s cheek. “Shit, we were so worried about you, why didn’t you contact us to tell us where you were?”

Heejin shifted uncomfortably, “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d come and try to recue me or something.”

“You could have at least told us you were okay! We were all so worried! Hyunjin was going mad with worry, I’ve never seen her like that before,” Haseul exclaimed. 

“Hyunjin still cares about me? After all I’ve done?” Heejin asked, something was lighting up her dark eyes. Hope. Fuck, Haseul was going to have to extinguish that light. 

“Of course, you dumbass, Hyunjin loved you,” Haseul laughed. Heejin grinned.

“Well, I’m here for her, I’m doing this for her. I want to learn how to control my strength and my inner demon before I go back to her. I want her to see me as the Heejin she fell in love with, not the part-demon I am now,” the winged girl announced passionately. “And if you’ve come to take me back, I can’t leave now. I haven’t finished conquering my inner demons.”

Haseul tried to formulate a response. How the hell was she going to tell her that Hyunjin tried to summon a demon to find her and ended up being dragged to hell?

Suddenly, the dreamy, hopeful expression on Heejin’s face morphed into one of horror. 

“Wait, what do you mean she ‘loved’ me? Does she not love me anymore? Oh god, she hates me, doesn’t she?” Heejin began to fret. Haseul winced. Her eyes flickered towards Jihyo’s in a silent plea for assistance. She heard her sigh.

“Heejin, dear, I think you should take a seat. Haseul has something important to tell you,” she commanded gently. The part-demon perched on the edge a seat, leaning forwards so she wouldn’t crush her jet-black wings. 

Sighing heavily, Haseul knelt in front of her friend and put her hands on her knees. 

“Heejin, I have some bad news. While you were gone, we were all trying to search for you. Hyunjin was searching the hardest. She thought you may have gone to hell and decided to summon a demon to find out whether you were there. We tried to tell her not to, tried to convince her that it was a bad idea, but you know what she’s like,” Haseul chocked a little. She tried so hard not to cry, but she looked up and saw the grief-stricken expression on her friend’s face and that was it. Haseul rested her head on Heejin’s knees for a brief few moments while she composed herself. Reality always came crashing down at the most inconvenient moments. 

“Don’t… don’t say anymore, I can’t hear it,” Heejin whined. 

“We… we tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen. She summoned a demon, she did it anyway. We went to stop her but it was too late, she’d been possessed. I removed the demon from her body and we destroyed the demon, but… her soul wasn’t in her body,” Haseul sobbed. 

“No, it’s not true!” Heejin shouted, jumping to her feet. Her wings spread out around her. Red tears streamed down her pale face. She looked like an angel of death. 

“Heejin, I’m so sorry. We did everything we could, but it was too late. Hyunjin’s dead,” Haseul said solemnly. 

Heejin turned her back to Haseul, turning to face the door. She rested her horns against the door. Haseul could hear her heavy breathing and poorly concealed sobs. With a roar, Heejin picked up the nearest thing to her and lobbed it as hard as she could. The board rubber flew across the room and smashed through the glass window. Jihyo sighed heavily. 

“Heejin, breathe. Remember what I told you about your pain and anger, you mustn’t let it consume you,” Jihyo commanded. The part-demon visibly sucked in long breaths and let them out shakily. She wiped her cheeks, smearing her pale red tears all over her face. 

When Heejin looked up once more, her face was set with determination.

“She’s not dead, she’s not gone forever. We… I can save her,” Heejin declared, “Jihyo unnie, you told me stories of heroes rescuing their loved ones from hell. You also told me that there’s an element of truth in every legend.”

The leader frowned, “That’s true, but even if you can get to hell safely, you might not be able to rescue her. Human souls go feral when trapped in hell, it may be too late when you get there. Do you really think it’s worth the risk?”

“It was my fault that Hyunjin summoned that demon, it’s my fault she’s in hell. It’s my duty to go and save her. And, I don’t know how I’ll live with my Hyunjin,” Heejin muttered the last part, wringing her wrists. Haseul scowled. 

“Jihyo, are you saying that there is a chance that if we go to hell, we’ll be able to rescue Hyunjin?” the short-haired woman asked. The JYP agent frowned and remained silent for a few moments. 

“The likelihood of success is slim, but not impossible. There is a chance you can save her. It is more likely that you’ll die in the process,” 

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Heejin declared, “I will save my girlfriend from hell, or I’ll die trying.”

Haseul nodded gravely, “So be it.”

Haseul was surprised by how willingly Jihyo was helping them. She proved Heejin was a map of hell and a suggested a short cut to help them get there quicker. Although, apparently, the short cut was through the dream realm so perhaps that was a bad idea. She even offered to send an agent to keep an eye on Hyunjin’s body and prevent any more possessions of the empty vessel, which they both eagerly agreed to. Haseul wandered if the leader had taken a liking to Heejin, or if, perhaps, she just wanted to get Haseul on her good side. Jihyo, however, drew the line at sending an agent with them for protection. She said she wouldn’t put her friends at risk like that. 

Haseul took Heejin back to her and Vivi’s apartment. She thought it would have been too painful for her to go back to her own apartment and see the body.

When they arrived at the apartment, Heejin was swiftly tackled to the floor in a barrage of bear hugs. Of course, Vivi began to scold the part-demon. She even started to scold her in Cantonese, which she only did when she was really angry. 

While Heejin told Vivi and the two angels of her plan, Haseul decided to take a shower. 

As she stood, letting the hot water run over her, letting it loosen her tight muscles, she allowed herself to think.

Was this really a good idea? Was it really worth the risk? What if it killed them? What if they got there alive and Hyunjin’s soul had already turned ‘feral’? What if?

Haseul shook her head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts from her head and quash the looming panic attack. Now was not the time for uncertainty. She had to do this, for Heejin and for Hyunjin and for herself. She wasn’t sure she could handle the loss of another loved one. She hadn’t let herself grieve, and she wouldn’t. For to grieve would be to accept that Hyunjin was really gone. She wasn’t gone yet, not when they had a chance to save her. 

Haseul sighed. She missed the days when her biggest worries were college and relationship problems, not whether they can rescue someone’s soul from hell. She longed to go back to those days. Part of her wished that she never went home with Sooyoung. Fuck, if she had been a little less gay and horny, she would have never gotten herself into this mess. Her angelic blood would have remained dormant. 

Or perhaps it wouldn’t have. Something else may have triggered her angel blood. Everything may have happened regardless of whether she had touched Sooyoung’s scars, and it may have turned out worse than it already had if she hadn’t been able to protect herself. 

And if she wasn’t part angel at all, maybe she would have never met Jungeun. And that… she didn’t want to think about that. Although she hadn’t spent much time with the woman, she recognised the growing feeling in her heart. She recognised the butterflies in her stomach when she thought about her. She knew the difference between a mere crush and a connection. Haseul liked Jungeun, she liked her a lot. She thought about her all the time, she longed to see her when she wasn’t around. She couldn’t say that she loved her, but she cared deeply for her. And she could see herself falling in love with her. In fact, she looked forwards to it. 

Haseul turned off the shower resolutely. Everything happens for reason. And good things had come about too, her friendship with Jiwoo and Chaewon, her budding relationship with her guardian, Yeojin, her newfound purpose. 

That’s what Haseul decided to focus on. Yes, her life was shit. But it wasn’t completely shit. And maybe if they rescued Hyunjin, she could help someone else’s life become less shit. And her own too. And that was enough. That was enough. 

Having dried off and put on her bathrobe, Haseul entered the kitchen where Heejin was showing the two fallen angels the map of hell and explaining the short cut. 

“Everyone, I think we should get some sleep,” she announced, “It’s getting dark and we’ve all had a hard day.”

Heejin began to protest, but Haseul shut her down.

“Heejin, I know we haven’t got everything figured out yet and I know we need to be quick, but we won’t get anywhere when we’re all exhausted. Let’s all get some rest, then first thing in the morning we’ll figure out how to make a portal, or whatever, and then we’ll go and rescue her,” she said. 

The rest of the girls agreed with her. They all disappeared from the kitchen, leaving Haseul alone with Heejin. The winged girl buried her head in her hands. 

“Haseul, I don’t know if I can do this. What if we can’t save her? It is stupid to even try?” Heejin asked. Haseul shrugged and squeezed her friend’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly, “But we have to at least try.”

Heejin buried her head in Haseul’s shoulder, sobbing a red patch onto her bathrobe. She really didn’t know if they would succeed. But they had to try. For Hyunjin.

Haseul awoke slowly. She didn’t feel rested, but at least she didn’t feel exhausted. Her nose had healed. Thank fuck for super-powered healing. Her bones no longer ached, that was good. However, the weight of their impeding journey rested heavily on her shoulders. She could do this.

Haseul dressed herself slowly and carefully. She’d never been to hell before, not literally anyway, would it be cold? Would it be hot? She found an old pair of climbing trousers hiding in the back of her wardrobe. She thought she’d thrown them out. Lightweight, durable and with a reinforced knee. Good in hot and cold weather. Perfect, and they still fit! She threw on a sports bra and a synthetic t-shirt. Of course, she couldn’t resist chucking a green flannel over the top, it was nice to wear something that was very ‘Haseul’. 

She didn’t know how long their journey would take. Jihyo had suggested that it would probably take a day or two, depending on the accuracy of their portal and whether they took the short cut through the Dream Realm, which Haseul was still apprehensive about. 

Haseul decided to pack an extra set of underwear, a pair of gym leggings and jumper. She’d leave the rest of the space in her backpack for food and water. Although, as she began to leave her room, Haseul paused. She turned to her dressing table and pulled out the stone ball and the piri with ‘H’ inscribed on it. 

Despite its weight, Haseul shoved the stone ball into her backpack. She couldn’t help but feel like she needed it. She felt safe with it in her hand. 

Haseul walked into the kitchen and found Heejin there already, with Jiwoo and Chaewon beside her. Vivi was preparing meals and snacks to take with them. She was also dressed as if she was coming with them. 

“Vivi, why are you dressed like that?” she asked her ex-girlfriend. Vivi raised her eyebrow.

“Because I’m coming with you, of course,” she commented.

“Erm, no you’re not, it’s too dangerous,” Haseul argued. Vivi turned to face her ex, her face set with determination. 

“Yes, I am. I’m not arguing with you, Haseul. I’m coming, whether you want me to or not,” she announced defiantly. Jiwoo smiled shyly.

“It’s okay, unnie, we’ll protect her,” she said softly. Haseul nodded shortly. She hoped they didn’t regret it. 

The group spent the next hour trying to figure out how to make a portal to the dream realm. Haseul looked at the piri in her hand and ran her finger over the inscribed ‘H’. Perhaps this was what the piri had been given to her for. Perhaps…

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Haseul clambered off her seat and went to open the door, wandering who this person could be. 

Of all people, this was probably the last person she’d thought it would be. It was one of Vivi’s friends. Fuck, she couldn’t even remember her name.

“Handong?” Vivi asked. Ah, that was it. Handong smiled shyly. 

“I believe you have something of mine,” she said. She held her hand out, her eyes trained on the piri in Haseul’s hands. 

That’s when it hit her. ‘H’ didn’t stand for Haseul, it stood for Handong. She was from the dream realm! But why was she on Earth? The woman chuckled as if she had heard Haseul’s thoughts.

“I was stranded on Earth with no way to return home,” she explained, “It seems you met someone who gave my home to you.”

Haseul’s jaw dropped open. She was speechless.

“You are looking for a way to enter the dream realm, are you not?” the woman asked, “Would you like my assistance?”


	25. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back on their shit and is writing instead of studying for my exams. If you guessed me as the answer, you are very correct. In all seriousness, I really should be studying. But it's dull and I don't want to so y'know. 
> 
> Anyway, as always, I'm open to feedback. 
> 
> Stay safe kiddos.

The group of angels and humans and part-humans watched as Vivi’s friend began to set up what she needed to create a portal. She made Vivi bring a painting of a door from her room. It was a small painting of an ornate mahogany door. Haseul was astonished by the level of detail which had been finely painted on the watercolour door. Handong pulled a couple of belongings out of her very expensive looking purse. First of all, a wooden branch. Next, a locket. Finally, a pair of scissors. She cut off a very small lock of her own hair. She requested a bowl and a lighter. Her request was immediately granted. 

While the woman placed the items from her purse into the bowl, Haseul turned to Vivi.

“Did you know she was from the dream realm?” she asked her ex-girlfriend. Vivi only shrugged, but a knowing grin began to spread on her face. Haseul asked again, “Did you tell her we’re going to hell?” This time Vivi shook her head. This was getting weirder and weirder. 

“How did you know that we needed a portal?” Haseul asked the strange woman in her living room. Handong straightened and smiled at Haseul.

“We all possess different gifts. Mine is foresight,” she answered mysteriously. She pulled a lighter out of her pocket. “Stand back,” she warned. The woman from the dream realm lit the lighter and held it to the branch. The branch slowly caught fire, and she set it before the painted door. 

Slowly, as the bowl began to burn with luminous purple flame, Handong brought the piri to her lips and blew. 

The loud distinctive sound of the piri resonated throughout the room.

Painted door swung open on its painted hinges. Nothing happened at first, there seemed to be nothing behind the door. Suddenly, something projected from behind the open door. It burst open, a purple, swirling vortex above the bowl of purple flames. 

“You must hurry, the portal will only last as long as the flames are burning,” Handong warned. Haseul could only stare at the swirling vortex in her own fucking living room.

For a moment, Haseul thought she saw something flash in the portal. She thought correctly, it was getting bigger. 

Abruptly, a woman hurtled out of the portal. She had mid-length, brown hair and was wearing a black, pinstriped suit. She held a longsword in her right hand. Haseul thought she looked a little bit like a red panda with the chubby cheeks and clever eyes. 

“Handong,” the woman breathed in a deep voice. She strode towards Handong and threw her free arm around her shoulder, kissing the taller woman deeply. That was the unmistakable kiss of separated lovers. The woman with the sword stepped away and put her hand on Handong’s chest. “Don’t come back.”

Everyone was surprised by her warning, except Haseul. 

“Dongie,” the woman whined in her deep voice. She spoke quickly, as if she had a million things to tell her lover and not enough time. “It’s not safe at home anymore. The vestige of hell has spread, it’s corruption has possessed the others. It’s just me and Jiu left but it’s got to me too and I shouldn’t even be here. I heard your call and came to see you one last time.”

“Dami,” Handong breathed, pressing her forehead against the other woman’s. 

“I know, I love you too,” the shorter woman said firmly. She turned to the group of women. “Come on, the portal will close soon. Go.”

Haseul nodded to the other girls. Heejin ran through the portal first, leaping through it head first. Hand in hand, Jiwoo and Chaewon followed. Vivi jumped in right after. Haseul hesitated, then leaped head first into swirling, purple void. 

Haseul landed heavily on her feet. She heard someone land gracefully behind her. As she straightened, she saw the new woman facing the portal, her hand outstretched towards it. From this direction, Haseul could see directly into her living room, like she was staring into the mirror. She saw Handong lift her own hand, mirroring the woman in the dream realm. 

Abruptly, the portal shut. The woman was left staring into space, her hand outstretched to no one. 

Haseul turned her attention to her friends. 

“Is everyone okay?” she asked, moving to help Vivi off the rocky ground. 

As she did, Haseul surveyed her surroundings. The sky was dark and tormented, clouds swirled viciously around the sky, centring around a sky-scraping tree. The top of the tree was starting to go brown; the bark turned from dark, ashy brown to black and grey as it got closer to the ground. The base of the tree looked black and scarred, it’s roots gnarled and sick. Darkness spread out from around the base of the tree. There were no trees anywhere, no signs of life. The ground looked sick. 

“It wasn’t this bad last time I saw it,” Haseul commented. 

“It’s gotten worse within the last few days,” a familiar voice commented. Jiu approached her. Her vibrant purple hair had faded. She was wearing a white pant suit with a pretty halter neck. Far too pretty for a woman at war. But this was the dream realm, Haseul supposed, it seemed like everyone here had impeccable fashion sense. She held a sword in her hands. The sad smile on her face had become familiar to Haseul. She frowned when she saw the band of travellers. “Why haven’t you come armed?” she demanded. 

“I… we don’t really have a stash of weapons in our home,” Haseul retorted. She saw the shorter of two women from the dream realm raise her eyebrow and smirk as if she was amused, a perhaps a little impressed. 

“Speak for yourself,” Chaewon snorted. She gestured to the dagger strapped to her waist, the same one Haseul had used to slice off Jiwoo’s wings. 

The purple haired woman sighed and pinched her eyebrows, “Well, I can’t let all of you walk around completely unarmed. Here.” She removed her belt and held it out. Strapped to the belt was one long dagger. 

“Haseul, Jiwoo, one of you two should have it, I can handle myself,” Heejin suggested. “I’ll protect Vivi.” 

Haseul nodded to Jiwoo. The angel was better trained than she was, she would know what to do with the weapon. Haseul worried she might be a danger to herself with a knife in her hands. The purple haired woman raised her eyebrow and shrugged.

“Suit yourself, little demon,” she said. 

The shorter of the two strange women stepped forwards. 

“You two want to get to hell, right?” she asked, “Well, we have portals to each realm contained within the palace. You can enter hell through there. Just think of the place you want to go to and that’s where you’ll end up on the other side.”

Jiu nodded, “The only problem, is that Yoohyeon rules over the palace. We won’t be able to stay hidden for long in the palace. However, we can protect you. We are strong enough to fend off our former friends and lovers to help you on your mission.”

“How do you even know?” Heejin piped up, “How can we even trust you?”

Haseul cleared her throat and spoke loudly, “Jiu has helped me in the past. She has given me no reason not to trust her. And I think we’ll need all the help we can get. I’ve faced Yoohyeon before, and it didn’t go very well.” Subconsciously, Haseul’s hand came to rest on her throat. She cleared her throat awkwardly again. “So, where even is this palace?”

Both Dami and Jiu lifted their arms and pointed upwards, directing her to turn around. Slowly, Haseul turned. Directly behind her was a giant castle. Its walls were grey and cracked, but behind the castle walls lay a grand palace of incredibly ornate design. The large doors to the castle looked exactly like the door which Vivi had painted, just on a much, much larger scale. 

“Oh,” Haseul said. 

The two women who previously ruled the dream realm guided the rag-tag band of women to the back of the palace and guided them through, what used to be, the servant’s entrance. 

“This palace was built in the human realm,” Jiu had explained, “And was transported to our realm. We have no need for servants, however the back passage does prove to be a nice little entrance when one wants to enter secretly.”

The two women made them creep down countless hallways, each turn more confusing than the last. They were dragged up and down countless winding stairways and pulled through endless passageways, some making them walk straight through the walls, others seemed to get longer and longer the more they walked them. 

“Are we nearly there?” Heejin eventually asked impatiently. 

She was hushed immediately. With wide eyes, Jiu and Dami pushed the group of women against the wall. In the silent hallway, the sound of footsteps rang out clearly. Once the footsteps faded, they began to move once more. Dami pointed to a grand door at the other end of the wide, ornate corridor. 

“That’s the portal room there,” she whispered, “It doesn’t seem to be guarded.”

Jiu frowned.

“Something’s not right,” she whispered furiously. Dami scowled in response. Haseul exchanged a panicked look with her friends. 

All of a sudden, the corridors around them morphed and began to widen into what seemed to be a grand hall. On the other side of the hall, the door to the portal room was still standing. 

“We’ll distract them, when I say go, run for the door,” Jiu hissed to the group of frightened women. Haseul saw Chaewon draw her seraphic dagger from her belt. 

“Hello, lover, how nice to see you again. Have you come to stab me again?” a bold voice called out from behind them. Sat on a tall throne was tall, beautiful woman dressed in a black outfit. The cape draped from her chair and cascaded down the steps to her thrown like a beautiful shadow. Her grey perfectly framed her thin face, her eyes were completely black. She was frightening, but equally beautiful. Haseul recognised her as Yoohyeon, it was hard to forget the face of the person who nearly chocked you to death. Jiu stared at the woman with sad eyes. “Oh look, you’ve brought some friends for me to play with. How kind,” she spoke again.

“No, I’ve come to defeat you,” Jiu shouted at the regal woman. Haseul imagined that she rolled her eyes, but it was hard to tell when even the whites of her eyes black. 

“Again?” she drawled as stood up, a rapier magically appeared in her hands. 

“Run,” Jiu hissed. As soon as the word left her mouth, she raced towards Yoohyeon, her sword raised. 

Haseul felt Heejin grab her hand and pull her towards the door at the other end of the corridor. 

Knowing that Vivi wouldn’t be able to keep up with their superhuman speed, Haseul scooped up her ex-girlfriend into her arms as she raced towards the door, tailing the two fallen angels and Heejin. 

Just as they reached the door. Two women stepped in front of the door with predatory smiles. They wore matching outfits, a long, black leather coat over a white shirt and tie with heavy boots. Haseul recognised one as Sua, the flirty woman she had met before. Her eyes held no recognition, they no longer contained the cheeky playfulness they once held. Instead, they were completely consumed with black. Haseul didn’t recognise the other girl. She looked young, like she had a baby face. She had the pure white wings of an angel. Haseul wondered if this was the girl Jungeun stole from heaven. She didn’t look like an angel anymore. 

“Going somewhere?” the woman Haseul once knew as Sua sneered. 

The pair of women raised their swords as if to attack them. Dami leaped over their heads. Haseul heard the clash of swords before she saw it. The two women were attacked their former friend. 

“Fuck, what do we do now?” Heejin asked. Haseul felt Vivi bury her head into Haseul’s chest. 

“I don’t know,” Haseul sighed, “They’re blocking the way out,” she gestured to the woman who was fighting off two other corrupted dream realm dwellers. 

“Do we help them fight?” Jiwoo asked, drawing out the dagger which Jiu had given to her. 

Haseul didn’t get a chance to reply. Her mind was made up for her. 

A ginormous wolf came hurtling towards the group of women. Haseul ducked out of the way, dropping Vivi unceremoniously to the ground. Heejin flew up into the air to avoid the wolf. The wolf snapped at Haseul until Chaewon stuck her knife into the wolf’s muscular shoulder. Unfortunately, that didn’t deter the wolf. It swiped at the blonde with massive paws. 

Haseul saw Heejin begin to swoop down to help them, but she was knocked to the ground by the girl with white wings hurtling towards her. The two winged women began to wrestle on the ground and took their fight to the sky, brawling in the air. 

Meanwhile, Haseul could see Jiu and Yoohyeon engaged in a vicious sword fight on one side of the room while Dami grappled with Sua in front of the door to their escape. 

“Haseul, protect Vivi, we’ll fight off the wolf,” Jiwoo cried. Haseul nodded and guided Vivi to the side of the room, observing the fight eagerly. 

Suddenly, Heejin crashed to the floor. Haseul saw her friend land heavily on the ground. She didn’t seem to be moving. The giant wolf made short work of the two angels. Once their knives were stuck in the wolf’s back, they were defenceless against the beast’s mighty claws. It slashed Jiwoo across her stomach, making her collapse to the floor. 

“Jiwoo!” Haseul cried. 

Both the wolf and the flying woman turned their attention Haseul. They began to make their way towards her, stalking her like prey. As it walked towards her, the huge wolf shifted into an average sized woman with black hair and even darker eyes. The two women began to get closer and closer to Haseul. Heejin still wasn’t moving. Chaewon was helping Jiwoo. The woman who was once a wolf pulled the two daggers out of her back. She dropped the seraphic dagger onto the floor but kept Jiu’s blade in her hand.

Haseul began to scrabble around, searching for anything to help her fight back against them. She needed something, anything, to protect herself and to protect Vivi. She tried to wrestle a sword from a suit of armour, but failed. She stuck her hand in her rucksack, praying that perhaps Vivi had packed a knife or something for their lunch. 

Instead, Haseul’s hand closed around the stone Jungeun had given her. She pulled it out and looked at the smooth sphere. Hopefully it would do something. Haseul kissed the smooth surface. Nothing happened, of course it didn’t.

The two women stalked closer and closer. Desperately, Haseul lobbed the stone sphere at them. It struck the wolf woman in the chest, and bounced right off. She stopped walking and laughed heartily. The winged woman did the same. 

Fuck. 

The two women took another step forwards, still giggling menacingly. They didn’t take another. For they were blocked by a stone statue.

The stone ball exploded in a flash of light. Haseul blocked her eyes with her hand. When she uncovered her eyes, she couldn’t believe what she saw. It was a stone statue. It wasn’t much taller than her but it’s huge wings made up for its small statue. It seemed to be wearing a stone dress, and its figure seemed to be feminine. The stone statue held in its hands large, stone claymore. 

The stone statue blocked the attack from the wolf woman and slammed the stone sword against her chest, sending her flying backwards. The stone statue kicked the other winged woman in the chest, knocking her to the floor. 

The statue turned slowly to Haseul. Despite being made of stone, her familiarity was unmistakable. Perhaps it was the curve of her eyes, the slope of her nose, the shape of lips that gave it away. Although two large tusks jutted over her bottom lip, Haseul could see the way the stone lips curled upwards. The stone statue lowered herself to one knee in front of Haseul, bowing her head respectfully. 

“Jungeun…” Haseul breathed, “Thank you.”

The statue arose and took Haseul’s hand into her own. She raised it to her lips and kissed them gently. The cold, rough stone tickled Haseul’s skin and she couldn’t help but let out a girlish giggle. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Haseul saw Heejin struggling to get up while the wolf and the winged woman surrounded her, focussing on a different prey. 

“Heejin!” Haseul cried. She moved to run towards her friend but a cold, solid hand to her chest prevented her. The stone grotesque took off flying towards the pair of corrupted women, engaging them in a vicious battle. While the women were distracted, Haseul ran towards her friend, picking up Chaewon’s dropped dagger as she went. As soon as her hand connected with the dagger, she felt its energy begin to pulse up her arm. 

Haseul landed beside Heejin and helped her to her feet. A singular red tear dripped down her cheek.

“Are you okay?” Haseul asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay now,” Heejin sighed, her hand clutching the side of her chest. “Well, I’ll be fine.”

“You guys need to go while you still can,” Dami’s voice appeared behind Haseul. 

Her opponent lay on the floor behind her. Jungeun was succeeding in fending off the wolf and the winged woman while Jiu and Yoohyeon still battled viciously. 

It looked like they were going to win. Jiu knocked Yoohyeon to the ground and kicked her head. The woman dropped to the ground. Jiu began to run back, helping Jiwoo and Chaewon off the floor as she went. Vivi appeared beside Haseul. 

“You guys need to leave now,” Jiu cried as she ran towards them, “They won’t stay down for long. It’s too late for us, the vestige is part of Yoohyeon now, all the power is held in her crystal, and there’s no way I can take it from her.”

Haseul saw Sua begin to clamber back off the floor. The stone statue was starting to struggle against her two opponents. 

Jiu shouted, “Quick, run to the portal door while you still can.”

Jiwoo and Chaewon had just reached their group. Haseul grabbed Jiwoo’s hand and tugged on it as she turned towards the ornate door to their escape. 

Jiu made a horrifying gasp. Haseul turned back. 

The bloody tip of a rapier had burst through her chest. Jiu spluttered, blood coming from her mouth. Red leaked from the hole, staining her white outfit permanently. 

“The crystal,” she spluttered. 

The sword was withdrawn from her chest and Jiu immediately collapsed to the ground. Yoohyeon looked down at the body with a completely blank face. She raised her sword to the rag-tag bunch.

“Get them,” she snarled. 

While Jungeun was pinned to the ground by the woman with white wings, the other woman turned back to the group. As she stalked towards them, she shifted back into a wolf. It slobbered menacingly. Haseul saw Sua approaching them from the other side. Yoohyeon herself stalked closer, her black cape billowing behind her. 

Haseul felt a hand grip her shoulder. She looked up at the blank face and the eyes consumed by blackness. Dami smirked at her arrogantly. The Dami she had met only hours ago was not this woman. 

“Oh fuck,” Haseul screamed and she thrust the seraphic knife into her assailant’s stomach. “Oh fuck!” she screamed again when Dami stumbled backwards clutching her bleeding stomach. That might have stopped her, but it didn’t stop Sua lunging for her with a mighty swing of her sword. 

“I have an idea! Cover me!” Vivi yelled. Haseul kicked her assailant and joined her friends. The formed a protective circle around the Cantonese girl. Haseul saw her pull a notepad and a pencil out of her bag and begin scribbling furiously.

“Vivi! This isn’t the time for drawing!” Haseul cried. 

“Just trust me!” Vivi responded, “Jiwoo move your head so I can see the tall one.”

Jiwoo did as she was told while she tried to block the tall woman’s attacks, keeping her from getting through the protective circle. Haseul used the seraphic dagger to hack and slash at her assailants, praying that she was strong enough to keep them back. 

The stone figure defeated the winged woman and launched herself at the wolf. She continuously leapt over the vicious creature and struck it with her stone sword. 

Sua focussed her attention of Haseul while Heejin fought off Dami and the pair of angels focussed on keeping back Yoohyeon. 

She was strong, too strong. With every blow, Haseul stumbled back. Even with the energy pumping around her body, her opponent was too strong. Sua swung her sword downwards. Haseul lifted her knife to block it. As she held the seraphic dagger in the air, Haseul attempted to force back Sua with all her might. However, the muscular woman forced her down, almost pushing Haseul to her knees. 

“Are you nearly fucking done?” Haseul cried to Vivi. The Cantonese woman nodded absently. Suddenly she stopped and dropped her pencil. Something cracked.

A horrifying scream rang out through the hall. 

Suddenly, the hall shrank back into the corridor it once was. Haseul watched as the black that clouded her assailant’s eyes faded away. Her eyes were filled with cheeky playfulness once more.

“Shit,” Vivi swore. She swore some more in a mix of every language she knew. Tears streamed down her cheeks and onto the notepad. On the paper was a beautiful drawing of the crystal which Yoohyeon had worn around her neck. There was crack drawn in the middle of it. 

Haseul looked over at the tall woman. She was on the ground cradling Jiu’s head against her body, sobbing heavily. Sure enough, the crystal round her neck possessed the same crack in it which Vivi had drawn. The once red crystal was now clear. 

All the once corrupted women became pure again. The huge wolf sat on its haunches and yipped like an overgrown puppy. They all began to hug and kiss each other, tears streaming down their cheeks. Haseul found that the stone statue had returned to her side. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Chaewon finally asked, voicing everyone’s thoughts. 

Yoohyeon looked up from the ground and smiled sadly. 

“You saved us from the darkness,” she said breathily.

“Just like that?” Heejin squeaked, her eyes focussed on Vivi’s drawing. 

“Not quite,” the tall woman said, “You’ve released us from the darkness, but the vestige still corrupts our realm.”

The purple haired woman in her lap coughed and spluttered as she awoke. 

“Minji! You’re alive!” Yoohyeon cried. Jiu laughed. 

“It’s not the first time you stabbed me,” she chuckled, “I’m glad to see you’re back.” She winced as leaned up to kiss the tall woman tenderly. 

Haseul cleared her throat awkwardly. 

“Ugh, can we go now? We’ve got somewhere to be,” she asked. 

Yoohyeon seemed a little confused, “Ugh sure,” she said, pushing her grey hair out of her face, “And, I believe we all owe you a favour.”

“Guys, something’s happening,” Heejin cried, her eyes were focussed on the floor following something which Haseul couldn’t see. She unfurled her wings in preparation. 

“Heejin?” Haseul asked. The pale girl had turned even paler than usual. She pointed to the ornate door in front of them. The shadows in the corridor began to congregate and concentrate in one spot. The shadow crept up the door slowly then morphed into human shape. “Ugh, what’s that?”

“I think it’s the vestige,” Jiu said, her breathing still heavy and laboured, “It’s a manifestation of the corruption.”

The dark shape continued to grow and grow until it towered over them. The shadows turned into leathery skin. Grey horns poked out all along its back. It grew a head, and then it grew two more. On each head, three eyes opened, all of them various shades of grey. Each head roared, one after the other, revealing humongous white teeth. The shape manifested as a huge three headed lizard. It was horrifying and disgusting and terribly intimidating. 

Of all the things she had encountered in the past, Haseul thought this was the scariest so far. 

“It’s basically just a demon, right?” Haseul squeaked, “We’ve taken out demons before.”

“If we work together, we can defeat anything!” Jiwoo cried. 

Jiu stood to her feet with Yoohyeon’s help. 

“The angel is correct, we have defeated worse things in the past,” she said determinedly. “Gahyeon, take to the sky with the part demon. Siyeon, Sua, Dami, take a head each. The rest of you, focus on the body. Yoohyeon, would you mind protecting me and the human while I heal?”

The tall woman stood with a nod, she lifted her lover into her arms and gestured for Vivi to follow her. 

Just in the nick of time, for the awful beast roared and swiped at the group with its giant paw.

Everyone took their positions. Heejin and the winged woman attacked the beast from the sky while the wolf, Sua and Dami distracted each head, dodging its ginormous teeth.

Haseul followed Jiwoo and Chaewon to its flanks, but spent more time dodging its huge claws than attacking it. Its tail whipped around and whacked Haseul directly in her chest. As she flew backwards, she landed directly on Jiwoo, taking them both out. 

The stone statue flew out of nowhere, heading straight for one its necks. She swung her sword upwards, slicing straight through the shadowy skin. The head dropped onto the floor with an audible thunk. The monster roared angrily and reared up on its hind legs. Heejin grabbed onto one of necks and held it in place while the winged woman, Gahyeon, swooped across and sliced that head clean off. 

Chaewon raced towards the remaining head. Someone threw a sword towards her. In a great feat of athleticism, she caught the sword mid-air and brought it down on the monster’s neck, removing the final head. She landed gracefully and stood with a triumphant smile. The shadow creature collapsed behind her. 

Haseul couldn’t smile and cheer with everyone else. Something didn’t feel right, she could feel it in her bones. 

The shadowy heads collapsed into nothingness. 

With a yelp of joy, Chaewon raised her sword above her head, shouting, “Assa!”

“I didn’t know she could do that,” Jiwoo commented with a proud smile. 

Haseul heard a creak and a groan. Behind the blonde angel, the shadow creature was getting back on it’s gnarled feet. Where the stumps of its neck were, three more heads burst out. The damn thing now had nine heads.

“Well, of fucking course it just had to be a fucking hydra,” Haseul complained. 

One head bit onto Gahyeon’s ankle and threw her across the room. Heejin narrowly avoided the same fate. 

The stone statue of Jungeun helped Haseul off the floor and began to guide her towards the door to the portal room. 

“I can’t leave them like this,” she pleaded with the stone statue. She tilted her stone head. The message was clear. If you don’t get out of here, it will kill you. “I can’t leave them,” Haseul whispered. The grotesque frowned but nodded silently. It turned to the monster and leapt into battle.

Things were not going well. 

The nine-headed monster plucked Heejin out of the air. When she pierced it’s skin with her horns, the holes were quickly filled with more shadows. When it’s leg was cut off by Dami, another one grew back with more horns and longer claws. With every slice along it’s back, a new horn to avoid grew back. There was no way to kill it. 

The seraphic dagger in Haseul’s hand pulsed. She looked down at the strange blade.

If it was the only thing that could harm an angel, perhaps it would be the only thing which would harm the shadow monster. 

“Jungeun,” Haseul cried to the stone warrior. It flew over to her obediently. “I need you to get me in the sky and I need you to drop me on the monster. I know you’re here to protect me, but I need you to trust me.”

The stone creature considered Haseul’s words for a moment then outstretched its stone hand. With conviction, Haseul slammed her hand into the outstretched stone and clung on for dear life as the grotesque launched itself into the air, flying over the monster. 

When Haseul was directly over the monster’s back, she let go of Jungeun’s hand. She plummeted through the air, aiming the seraphic dagger towards the monster’s horny back. 

She was just about to hit it, when one of the monster’s heads grabbed her ankle and slammed her onto the floor before it. All of the heads raised at once while Haseul scrabbled to her feet, ignoring the pain which exploded all over her body. 

It happened very quickly. All of the monsters heads descended on Haseul at once. In a desperate attempt to save her life, she thrust her heavenly weapon upwards. She covered her eyes. She didn’t want to watch herself die. 

There was no more pain, no teeth ripping her body to pieces. She was still alive. 

Haseul looked up.

The seraphic dagger was hilt deep in the shadow creature’s chest. Creeping out of the dagger was trails of silver and gold fire that were eating away at the shadows, destroying them completely. Haseul could feel the energy pulsing from her chest into the dagger, and presumably into the creature. She focussed on that energy, and thrust the dagger deeper into the creature’s chest.

More and more silver and gold fire burst from the tip of the seraphic knife. It spread throughout the monster’s body, setting the whole creature alight. The monster screamed as it burned silver and gold until it imploded into nothingness. All that was left was a ball of black and gold energy which pulsed on the tip of the seraphic dagger. 

“Haseul! Drop the dagger! You have to let it go!” she heard Jiwoo shout. Haseul tried to let go of the dagger, but her hand was fixed around the handle. Her arm was fixed, she couldn’t even pull her weapon out of the ball of energy. 

Suddenly, the energy dissipated. 

It dissipated and travelled through the dagger, up Haseul’s arm and across her chest. It burned. It felt like she was being burnt from the inside out. Haseul screamed. The last of the energy hit her like a ton of bricks, and she passed out.

Haseul came to in what seemed to be dark cave. She expected to feel nothing but pain, but she didn’t. She felt awake and free from pain and energised. Haseul sat up and looked around cautiously, observing her surroundings. She noticed that someone had put her rucksack beneath her head as if it was a pillow. 

She seemed to be on the ashy floor of a cave. There was light from the outside which was illuminating the cave. However, she couldn’t see the outside properly for a winged figure was perched in the entrance, looking out. 

Jungeun. Haseul smiled at the unmoving statue. 

Haseul herself was in one corner of the small cavern, Jiwoo and Heejin were in another corner, cuddling up to Chaewon. The blonde was sleeping. Haseul doubted Chaewon would have allowed the cuddling if she was awake. Vivi was sat alone in another corner. She was hugging her legs, her head buried in her knees. 

Haseul clambered to her feet and made her way over to Vivi. She settled beside her ex-girlfriend and nudged her gently. Vivi looked up and smiled wearily. She wiped her teary eyes and gave Haseul a brief, but very tight, hug. 

“Hey, it’s nice to see you up. We weren’t sure if you’d wake at all, to be honest,” Vivi said passionately, “It was scary, seeing you pass out like that. You should probably stop throwing yourself into danger.”

Haseul laughed bitterly, “I think it’s a bit late for that Vivi, something tells me I won’t stop throwing myself into danger anytime soon. So… where are we?”

Her ex-girlfriend smirked, “Hell, apparently. It’s not as hot as I imagined it would be.”

“Oh, do you think about hell a lot?” Haseul nudged her friend, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly. Vivi winced.

“Frequently. I know that hell is where I’ll end up where I die. There’s no way I’ll end up in heaven,” Vivi said wistfully. 

“Is it because you’re gay?” the short-haired woman teased. A ghost of a smile appeared on Vivi’s face. 

“Sure, let’s say that,” she muttered. Haseul looked around the cave once more. 

“So, we got out of dream realm then. What happened while I was out? Hell, how long have I been out?” Haseul asked. Vivi tapped her chin.

“Well, when you stabbed the shadow monster thing it exploded into flames and you absorbed the energy, making you pass out. They said that the corruption had been destroyed. Those people in the dream realm suggested that we stay there until you recovered but Heejin insisted we move on. That stone statue followed us, so we made it carry you so we could save energy. We went through the portal and ended up in hell. We walked for a while but we were so exhausted, we couldn’t go any further. We found a cave and decided to rest there, and here we are,” Vivi gestured to the stone cavern. 

“I see,” Haseul nodded. She glanced over to the pile of snuggling friends and smiled softly. A thought entered her mind that dulled her good mood, “Hey, Vivi, are we just going to ignore what happened in the dream realm? What you did?” Vivi didn’t respond. She simply paled and tilted her head away from Haseul’s gaze. “Vivi, you drew the crystal with a crack in it and then the crystal cracked. What was that? Is that… have you always been able to do that?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Vivi muttered darkly. 

“Why not? That was incredible!” Haseul cried. Her ex-girlfriend scowled. 

“Just… I’m not ready to talk about it. Maybe when we get home…” she trailed off. Haseul sighed, taking the hint. 

“Okay, okay. We can talk when we get home. We’ve just got to get home first though, huh?” Haseul laughed awkwardly. Vivi nodded distantly in response. 

Vivi began to play with the fabric of her trousers. Slowly, she looked at Haseul under heavy lidded eyes. 

“Haseul, if I ask you something, will you answer honestly?” she asked shyly. The younger woman nodded eagerly. Vivi paused. “Haseul… do you still have feelings for me?”

Haseul was taken back by her question. She stuttered a little before she composed herself. She took a deep breath before she answered honestly, no matter how hard it may be.

“Vivi, you’re the first girl I fell in love with, and you’ll always hold a special place in my heart. I still care about you, that will never change. When we broke things off properly, it used to hurt to even be near you, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. I… want to be your friend, and I want to be there for you. I still love you. But, if you’re asking me if I’m in love with you, no… I’m not in love with you anymore,” Haseul answered honestly, making intense eye contact with her ex. Vivi looked away and nodded gently.

“I thought so,” she said sadly, “You don’t look at me like you used to. That statue… the one that was guarding you… that’s Jungeun, isn’t it?”

Haseul nodded. She tried not to smile at the mere mention of her name, but she failed. Vivi was always perceptive. 

“I thought so,” Vivi mumbled, “You can tell by the way you look at her. You look at her like she hung the moon. You used to look at me like that.”

Haseul frowned and put her hand on her friend’s knee, “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Vivi smiled, but her eyes were still filled with sadness.

“Don’t apologise, Haseul. We both knew it would be like this. We both knew that one of us would get over the other quicker. I didn’t expect that person to be you,” Vivi joked, nudging her ex-girlfriend gently. Haseul smiled sadly. She was right. Haseul used to think she would pathetically pine after her ex forever. Perhaps it was Jungeun that brought her out of that, perhaps it was everything that had happened to her. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. 

Speaking of Jungeun, Haseul turned her attention to the stone statue that was guarding the cave entrance. She heard Vivi chuckled beside her.

“Simp,” her ex-girlfriend laughed, “Go and talk to her. I don’t know if we’ll make it out of here, this might be the last time you ever get to speak to her.”

Haseul nodded silently. She squeezed Vivi’s knee before she went over to the stone statue. 

When she reached the entrance of the cave, Haseul leant against the stone wall and regarded her stone girlfriend. Well, she wasn’t actually her girlfriend, but she might as well have been. Haseul glanced over the stone figure. It was funny, she had stared at this grotesque weekly when she was a kid and yet, when she met Jungeun, she didn’t recognise her. She didn’t even put two and two together when Jungeun rescued her from JYP. Perhaps what was funnier was the fact that this grotesque had always been her favourite. 

She looked different to usual. The stone wings were impressive and large, the tusk-like teeth that jutted over her bottom lip looked dangerous, but somehow melded to her face. Her lips were melded together, that was obvious. Her eyes seemed blank and uncaring. The grotesque’s face was expressionless. Yet, this was undeniably Jungeun. The facial features were identical, as was the lion-like mane of hair. The way the stone figure protected her fiercely was a dead give-away. 

Haseul smiled, “You know, you were always my favourite grotesque,” she remarked wryly.

The statue rose from her crouched position, turning her body to face Haseul. She rested her stone sword against the wall and held out her hands. Grinning like a love-sick idiot, Haseul reached out to hold her outstretched hands. They were surprisingly smooth, despite the rough appearance of the stone. But they were cold. 

“Thank you, Jungeun, for protecting me. I don’t understand how you’re here, or why you’re stone, but I’m glad you’re here,” Haseul said sincerely. The stone figure shrugged, the corners of the stone lips turning upwards in an attempt at a smile. It was as if she was saying that she was glad to be here too. That’s how Haseul interpreted the stone’s gestures anyway. “Hey, did you know that I’m a Nephilim? I guess that’s why you’re supposed to protect me.”

Jungeun raised her hand and cupped Haseul’s cheek with cold stone fingers. The meaning in her gesture was clear. I’d protect you anyway. The short woman laughed harshly.

“I wish I could kiss you right now,” she admitted, “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you a lot. And now, you’re right in front of me, but I can’t kiss you.”

The stone statue shrugged her shoulders again. The stone eyebrows were slowly lifted then lowered again in what was probably supposed to be suggestive eyebrow wiggle. Haseul laughed, genuinely this time. Fuck, she was in deep. She couldn’t help it, she lent forwards to plant a chaste kiss onto the stone statue’s lips. 

It was strange kissing a statue, even if it was a tiny peck. It was even stranger trying to aim her lips so that she didn’t kiss the statue’s tusks. 

Haseul pulled away grinning like an idiot. The lips that were once melded together split apart to form a blinding grin, an undeniably ‘Jungeun’ smile, revealing stone teeth. Huh, that was odd. 

Suddenly, darkness obscured their view. Haseul looked out at the sky. It seemed like a there was a dense cloud obscuring the sky’s fiery light, and it was heading towards their hiding spot. 

As it closer, Haseul realised it wasn’t a cloud at all, but a plague of small, flying goblins. Goblins that were far too familiar. 

“Everyone, get up,” Haseul yelled into the cave. She saw the sleeping girls begin to stir out of the corner of her eye as she turned her attention back to the swarm of goblins. Jungeun picked up her stone sword and pushed Haseul back into the cave. The goblins were far too close for them to run.

Haseul rushed back to her backpack. The chatter and giggles of countless goblins was growing louder and louder. She didn’t know why, but something was telling her to do it. Haseul took out the seraphic dagger which had been kindly placed inside her bag. She slid the knife into her spare pair of socks and then stuffed the knife into her trousers. 

As she stood back up, the wave of goblins entered the cave. They have overwhelmed Jungeun, pushing the stone statue onto the ground. 

They swarmed around Haseul, doing the same to the other women who were hiding in the cave. They pulled at her clothes and scratched at her skin, dragging her into a kneeling position, just as they had done to the former angel in her dream. 

Stood on top of a swarming mass of flying goblins was a man. He was pale with slicked back hair. He wore a handsome burgundy suit over a smart, tan turtleneck. Haseul recognised him. She especially recognised the glowing, red eyes, the sense of danger that lurked beneath his skin and the disgusting tentacled monster that lay under his human form. She’d seen him in her dream, the one Jiu showed her. 

The flying monsters landed in the cave. The demon gracefully stepped onto the floor of the cave and began to walk. His burning eyes glanced over his captives, considering each one in turn. He focussed on his target and began to slowly walk towards her. 

He ignored the stone statue on the floor, the cursed Odd Eye. He walked past the part-demon and the forsaken angels that flanked her. He bypassed the growing Nephilim. Instead, he headed straight towards the human. She looked up at him with uncomprehending terror. 

“Hello, Miss Wong,” he greeted darkly, “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”


	26. Interlude IV- The Final Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wonder how many people had guessed the identity of the girl in the interludes. Let me know if you thought it was too obvious. Equally, I'm interested to know if anyone was completely shook by the revelation. Personally, I thought it was quite obvious but I suppose I knew who it was to begin with.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy and stay safe.

A woman sat in front of an easel. There was an empty canvas sat on the wooden apparatus. A small, drawstring bag hung from the corner of the canvas. The woman did not pick up her brush. She didn’t even open her tubes of paint. Instead she lit a match and set the bag alight.

The loophole was surprisingly easy to find once the woman had sat down and thought about it. The thing which made her do the Bargainer’s bidding was the threat of returning her to her father. Destroy the threat, destroy the hold the demon had over her. 

It was simple really, removing herself from her father’s grasp. All that was required was an email and a phone call. The email from an anonymous source contained pictures of the woman with another girl, kissing, hugging, etc. The woman felt guilty for bringing her ex-girlfriend into this, after all, she intended to rekindle their flame upon her return. However, it was a necessary evil. Her father called to find the truth. Was his daughter really a disgusting homosexual? Of course, father. Her father threatened to personally drag her back to Hong Kong. The woman informed her father that he would not. She was leaving the university he sent her to, and would not be told the university she was moving to. 

The woman’s cruel father sent her a letter. 

She had been disowned. 

The woman kissed the letter with pride. 

Of course, finances were not an issue, she’d been slowly stealing money from her father ever since she moved to Korea. And the money had been taken from his illegal funds. He could never pursue legal action without exposing his own wrongdoings. 

With the threat of her father no longer an issue, the woman had one more issue to attend to. 

She waited for the right moment. She waited until the Bargainer gave her a new task, a person’s life to destroy. He gave her a picture of a gargoyle and instructed her to draw it cracking and falling apart. He informed her smugly that this stone statue contained the spirit of his enemy and destroying the vessel would surely destroy what was inside. 

The Bargainer unknowingly gave the woman the tools she needed to be rid of him.

Destroying the vessel would surely destroy what was inside. 

The woman watched the small, drawstring bag burn. The fire lit up her blank eyes. The fire spread onto the canvas. It danced down the legs of the easel. The woman watched, ever so slightly amused. 

The woman stood and turned around. She was not surprised by the demon’s presence. He appeared in the doorway the moment she took a step forwards. 

“You stupid, stupid girl,” he said, sounding a little amused. “What do you think you’re doing? You do know that I can send you right back to your filthy little father so you can spend your life doing his filthy little jobs, and whining about being unable to wash the dirty blood off your filthy little hands.”

The woman raised her eyebrow. 

“You’re wrong,” she said. She walked towards him and showed him the official document. The demon snarled. 

“So, you’re free of your father, eh?” the Bargainer snarled, “Well, we still have a deal.” He wrapped his long fingers around the woman’s delicate throat, “And you won’t be free of me that easily.”

“Remember our deal, you get rid of my troubles so long as my gift belongs to you,” the woman said, far too calmly for a woman who had a demon’s hands around her neck. “Well, you can’t control me if there’s no gift for you to possess.”

The Bargainer focussed his glowing red eyes on the burning easel, the burning canvas and what remained of the burning little bag. Roaring, he rushed to the bag and picked it up. The bag dissolved in his hands. He roared once more. 

“We made a deal!” the demon bellowed, “Blood was split to make the deal and blood will be spilt to break it.”

“I know,” said the woman calmly. 

The Bargainer hurtled himself at the woman, his fingers morphed into claws. The woman stepped to the side and slammed his wrist against the doorframe. Before the demon could realise what had happened, the woman sliced the demon’s pinky finger clean off using the very same blade she had used to slice her hand all those years ago. 

The Bargainer howled. In pain, in shock, in anger, the woman did not know. He staggered backwards, clutching his hand. The woman picked up his finger and put it in her pocket. 

The fire had spread from the easel across the wooden floor and up the wooden walls. 

The Bargainer roared from the inside of his fiery cage. 

“Mark my words, I will destroy you,” the demon snarled. 

The woman scoffed. 

“I’ve already been destroyed,” she laughed bitterly. She turned around. 

“Then I will destroy everything you love,” the demon spat. The woman did not turn around but she did not walk forwards. “Mark my words. You will rue the day you ever summoned me and you will rue the day you broke your word. I will destroy everything and anything you love. I promise you this, Viian Wong, I will make your life a misery, I will ruin you and then, once I’ve killed you, I’ll haunt your afterlife for all eternity!”

The woman had started walking away half way through the demon’s speech. She didn’t look back when he said her name. She didn’t look back once he finished shouting. She didn’t look back when she walked out of the house, leaving its fiery ruins in its wake. 

She didn’t need to look back, she was free. Free from her father, free from her demon, free from her curse. She kept the paintings which the demon forced her to paint, but she made them pretty. Sparse landscapes had wildlife and flowers painted over the top. The fires were doused by painted waterfalls. The dead people were brought to life.

However, there are some things which cannot be destroyed. For destroying the vessel does not always destroy what was inside.


	27. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi pals! It's me again. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, I enjoyed writing this one a lot. As always, feel free to leave any comments or criticisms. Stay safe lads.

The hood was removed from Haseul’s head, flooding her vision with light. She blinked rapidly, tears filling her eyes, as she adjusted to the brightness. She seemed to be kneeling on the ground, which was covered in a red carpet. It didn’t feel like a carpet though. It was rough and uncomfortable. Clearly there for dramatic effect and not for the comfort of those forced to kneel on it. 

Haseul looked up, her gaze following the carpet up the stairs to the bright throne which sat at top the stairs. It was gold and bright, and far too familiar. Behind the throne was one singular figure. It was that of a girl with jet black hair and darker wings. She stood just behind the throne, partially hidden by the shadows. She recognised her. She recognised her from her visions of heaven, reality and, most disturbingly, her dream. She did wonder why this probably forsaken angel was hiding in the shadows. Haseul wondered if it had something to do with a certain blonde angel. 

Haseul looked around her. She didn’t like what she saw. A woman with one purple eye and a woman with one blue eye were removing the hoods which covered the prisoner’s eyes. Of course, the demon couldn’t let them know where his lair was, that would be far too dangerous. Haseul’s heart ached when she saw those women. They were Vivi’s friends, she trusted them. The pair of them must have been excellent actors. 

The short-haired woman struggled against the restraints which bound her wrists behind her back. They felt odd. They weren’t cold like metal or rough like rope. The more she struggled against them, the tighter they felt. Haseul stopped struggling. She didn’t want to risk cutting off circulation to her hands. 

Suddenly, the demon appeared from nothing. He was lazing on his throne with a sickening grin. His suit was white now. He wore it with a crisp white shirt and a bold black tie. The red of his eyes was visible even beneath his sunglasses. The demon laughed. He elegantly got off his throne and descended the steps. With a dramatic flourish, he removed his sunglasses and tucked them into the pocket of his pristine suit jacket. 

“Greetings, ladies,” he sneered, “How nice of you to visit me.”

“We don’t even know who you are,” Heejin sneered back boldly. The demon’s eyebrow twitched. His burning eyes focussed on the part-demon. 

“Well, aren’t you a pathetic little creature,” the man jeered. He casually fiddled with his cufflinks, “You’re not even a half-demon. A quarter perhaps? That seems right. A very rare specimen indeed. Hmm, perhaps I should keep you here. I wonder how long you’d last. Would you go feral like a mortal? Would your lifespan last as long a true Cambion?”

Heejin spat on his feet defiantly. A brave move for someone who was shaking like a leaf. The demon shook the spit off his foot with a disgusted expression. 

“Please, I’ve just had this outfit cleaned,” he complained as he walked around the throne room, “After all, it’s not every day your enemy jumps right into your lap.” The demon stopped in front of Vivi and crouched down patronisingly. “Hello, Viian. It’s been a while, has it not? Have you come to beg for your forgiveness?” 

The Cantonese woman didn’t respond. She merely stared into the demon’s burning eyes. The man’s lip curled upwards in a snarl. His perfectly manicured hand cupped her chin.

“Do you remember what I said to you when you broke off our little deal? Do you?” he snarled. The furious glare morphed into a scarier smile. The demon’s fingers stroked her face. Vivi tilted her head away from him, forcing the demon to grab her cheeks, pulling her face so she was staring directly at him. He spoke calmly and softly, “I said, that I would destroy everything and anything you love. Well, the people you love haven’t made it easy for me. However, I think I have something you may like to see. Miss Wong, would you like to see my new pet?”

The demon giggled. He skipped back to the foot of the steps and snapped his fingers. 

With a crack, a woman appeared out of thin air. She was thin, very thin. She was on her knees with her hands were behind her back. Her greasy hair fell in front of her face. It looked as if parts of it had been hacked off haphazardly. Some of it was so long it touched the floor, some of it grazed her bony shoulders. She was slumped over. When she appeared in the room, she raised her head. A leather collar was around her neck and a leather muzzle covered her mouth and nose. Despite the covering on her face, despite the bruises which surrounded her eyes, despite the broken look in her eyes, there was no mistaking who this was. 

“Sooyoung,” Vivi whispered quietly. 

Jiwoo gasped loudly. 

“Yves!” she screamed. Every head in the room turned to the small angel. Sooyoung’s eyes widened with recognition. She began to struggle against her restraints. The demon picked up the chain attached to her collar and yanked it backwards. Haseul heard the broken whimper which followed. 

Something struck Haseul, a horrifying realisation. She had seen this throne, this demon. It was real, her dreams. The forsaken angel, the deal, the kidnapping, it was all real. That meant… 

When the short woman closed her eyes, the vision of Jungeun in front of her, blood dripping from her mouth, was stuck to the back of her eyelids. Oh God. 

Sharply, Haseul’s burst open. Where was Jungeun? Where had the stone statue gone? Haseul felt no relief when she saw the stone statue stood at the back of the room, its hands and feet bound together. The blue eyed woman, Jinsoul, was examining the stone claymore that had once belonged to the statue. 

Her attention was brought back to the demon when he began to stalk towards Jiwoo, a curious smirk on his admittedly handsome face. 

“Well, isn’t this interesting? Miss Wong, you do keep interesting company. Not one, but two forsaken angels,” the demon clutched Jiwoo’s face and examined it with glowing scarlet eyes. He threw her away carelessly and addressed the Cantonese woman once more with an arrogant snicker. “Did you think they’d be able to protect you? Did you think they’d be able to stop me?”

Vivi finally spoke up, “You’re just upset that I outsmarted you.”

The demon growled, lunging towards his enemy, his eyes flashed brightly. Quickly, he recollected himself and turned his back on his audience, making his way back to his throne. He sat down on the gold and snapped his fingers. A plate of grapes appeared on the arm of his extravagant chair. He stuck his tongue out and popped one little fruit in his mouth. Haseul shuddered. 

“Well, I suppose I should introduce myself since Miss Wong rudely has not,” he said carelessly, “I have many names. In your world, they call me The Bargainer. If you prefer, you may call me Mr Jeong.” He popped another grape in his mouth and raised his eyebrow. “Now then, I know why you’re here. You’ve come for the human’s soul, have you not? Well, I shan’t just give it to you. I promised to let her search hell for her lost love, and that’s what she has done. And now, her soul is mine.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Haseul saw Heejin grimace and start to struggle against her restraints. The demon shifted on his throne and began to speak once more. Haseul fought the urge to roll her eyes. This dude sure did love the sound of his own voice. 

“I am, however, open to a bargain. I am willing to make a trade with you, ladies. A soul for a soul. That is fair, right? And I want that soul,” his finger found Vivi. The Cantonese girl shrunk back. 

“You’re not having her soul!” Haseul cried recklessly. Sharply, the Bargainer’s head whipped around. Haseul felt those red glowing eyes burn into her skin. A cunning grin formed on his face.

“My, what a brave little human you are. You are the ex-girlfriend, are you not? I know all about you, Jo Haseul. A pathetic, tiny, self-absorbed, anxious mess. I wonder, did your dear Vivi tell you about her past? Did she tell you all about the great power she possesses? What about everything she’s done? The blood on her hands?” the demon sneered. He watched Haseul’s expression change from defiance to confused betrayal. 

At least he doesn’t know everything about me, Haseul thought to herself with great relief. 

“Do you want to know how I know all about you? Well, you thank my little pets for keeping their odd eye on you,” he laughed at his own joke. The two Odd Eyes came to seat themselves at the foot of his throne. They even had the audacity to look forlorn and regretful. The one with the purple eye seemed distracted. 

The more Haseul looked at the pair, the more she thought that their sorrow looked genuine. Were they prisoners like Sooyoung? 

The demon leant back on his throne and threw several grapes into his mouth.

“So, are we agreed? A soul for a soul?” 

“No,” it was Heejin who spoke. Haseul had to admit, she was surprised by the outburst. “I won’t let you take Vivi’s soul. If you want anyone’s soul, you can have mine.”

The demon began to laugh. This wasn’t the same as the previous arrogant chuckles and half-amused giggles, this was a genuine guffaw. He even wiped his eyes mockingly. 

“Little demon, your soul already belongs to hell. You are a fucking demon,” the Bargainer stood and wiped off white suit. He stepped forwards, pulling Sooyoung closer to him by her collar. Slowly, clearly making a show of it, he draped his manicured over her head. Suddenly, he tightened his grip and pulled on her hair. Sooyoung audibly whimpered. 

It was a pathetic display of power, like a peacock fanning its coloured feathers. 

“Do we have a deal or not?” he growled. 

“No,” Heejin said darkly. 

Surprisingly, the Bargainer laughed darkly in response. 

“Fine,” he spat, “It’s too late anyway. She’s gone feral. Her soul has gone fucking feral.” He began to laugh maniacally. 

Haseul saw Heejin’s eyes widen. That was the face of girl whose heart had just broken. 

Mr Jeong snapped his fingers. 

A cage appeared in the centre of the room. Inside it was Hyunjin. Well, it looked like Hyunjin on the outside. But, it wasn’t truly Hyunjin. Hyunjin wouldn’t crawl on all fours to the bars of the cage. Hyunjin wouldn’t snap maniacally at anyone who looked at her. Hyunjin wouldn’t growl and yelp and howl unprovoked. Hyunjin wouldn’t have a broken, unhinged grin and unfocussed, clouded eyes. 

Heejin shuffled on her knees towards the cage. Hyunjin growled at her, reaching through the bars, trying to swipe and grab her. 

“I can save her,” Heejin said out of the blue. The Bargainer laughed harshly.

“Wow, I didn’t realise that capturing you idiots would be so much fun!” he cried, “I tell you what. Since I’m in such a good mood, if you can bring back this feral soul, save her from going completely feral, then I will let her soul go.”

“Do you promise that if I can save her, you’ll let Hyunjin go?” Heejin asked. 

Smiling pleasantly, the demon lifted his hands. Haseul tilted her head. One of his pinky fingers was missing. Slowly, he placed on his hands over his heart and stretched out his other hand, offering a handshake. 

“On my word,” he said slimily. Heejin nodded shortly. The demon nodded to the two Odd Eyes sat before his throne. The one with the Purple eye, Choerry, stepped behind Heejin with a small knife and released her from her restraints.

Heejin slowly stood up. She shook the Bargainer’s hand vigorously then allowed Choerry to open the door to Hyunjin’s cage. The part demon stepped into the cage containing the feral soul. 

Haseul wished her hands were free so she could bite her nails. She watched Heejin overpower Hyunjin easily, pinning her arms against bars of the cage. Hyunjin wriggled and writhed, trying to free herself from Heejin’s strong grip. Haseul held her breath as Heejin leant in and kissed the feral soul deeply. 

Heejin pulled away with a sigh, she opened her eyes slowly. 

Hyunjin stared back at her, unmoving. For a moment, for a joyous moment, Haseul thought it had worked. She was wrong. Hyunjin’s feral spirit growled and bared her teeth at Heejin, even spitting in her face. 

Devastated, Heejin threw the feral spirit across the cage and sank to the floor. Hyunjin crouched on her haunches, watching Heejin curiously. The part demon broke down crying, colouring her cheeks with red tears. Like a wild animal, Hyunjin tilted her head and crept slowly towards Heejin, sniffing at her feet and legs.

“Oh, Hyunjin,” Heejin wailed. The feral soul hissed and shuffled backwards. “Oh, Hyunjin, this is all my fault. It’s my fault this happened to you. If I had been honest with you from the beginning then maybe I would never have needed to join JYP. If I had been honest, if I was braver, then you wouldn’t have been so scared when I grew my horns and wings. If I was braver, I would have stayed with you, I should have told you the truth straight away. But no, I ran away. I always run away, don’t I? And you’re always waiting for me. But this time I made you wait too long didn’t I? You went looking for me and look what happened to you. I never even got to tell you that I love you. Not properly anyway.”

Heejin held her hand out to the feral soul. Hyunjin slowly sniffed at the hand, then rubbed her cheek against it. Hyunjin even let her girlfriend scratch her head, like a domestic cat. Heejin smiled, sniffling loudly. 

“Do you know how long I’ve been in love with you, Hyunjin?” Heejin asked. The feral soul’s head snapped upwards, staring directly into Heejin’s clouded eyes. “To be honest, I don’t know either. If I had to guess, I’d say several years. Maybe I’ve always loved you, I don’t know. Do you remember when we met? We met in middle school, we were in the same class. Someone made fun of me for liking kids cartoons and you stuck up for me. Even when we weren’t friends, you stuck up for me.” 

The feral soul stared blankly at Heejin, blinking cluelessly. Heejin smiled pitifully. She continued to tickle the back of her girlfriend’s neck. 

“Do you remember when you came out to me? You were so scared, weren’t you? I was the first person you told. We were in my bedroom, remember? I was so shocked. I remember thinking to myself, this is your chance, Heejin. Tell her you love her. Funnily enough, that was the moment I realised that I was in love with you. But then you freaked out because I didn’t say anything and didn’t speak to me for a week. And then when we made up, you were so surprised that I liked girls, even though I had bi pride flag in my room. You were so cute. Do you remember?”

Heejin chuckled, then looked down and wiped her nose. She continued, “You know Hyunjin, before I met you, I felt so alone. I used to feel so empty. That’s how I feel without you, incomplete. You complete me, Hyunjin. I wish I had been braver, I wish I could have told you that sooner. There were many things that I used to want. But, the thing I wanted most was to hear you say, ‘I love you’. I think you were waiting for me to say if first, weren’t you? I know you won’t say it back, but I need to say it. I need to put it out there.”

Heejin looked back up into Hyunjin’s blank eyes.

“Kim Hyunjin, I’m in love with you. You complete me.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Everyone sat watching, waiting for a response. 

Hyunjin sat staring at Heejin, completely unmoving. Heejin smiled one last time. The smile slipped off and she let go of Hyunjin. The part demon looked down at the carpeted floor, red tears streaming down her pale her cheeks. Never before had Haseul seen someone look so defeated. 

Hyunjin reached out suddenly and wrapped her hands around Heejin’s horns. Roughly, she tugged her upwards and towards her. Still holding onto Heejin’s horns, Hyunjin captured her lips. Breaking the kiss, Heejin gasped and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, bringing her as close as she possibly could. Hyunjin pressed her forehead against Heejin’s the best she could. The top of her head rested just beneath the base of Heejin’s horns. Their noses brushed against one another’s. 

“Jeon Heejin, without you, my soul is incomplete. I love you too,” Hyunjin whispered, barely audible to those around her. Heejin grinned, even more thick, red tears streamed down her stained cheeks. 

Haseul grinned triumphantly and let out a joyous yelp. It seemed to break the two lovebirds out of their romantic bubble. A serious look was set onto Heejin’s face. She effortlessly stood up and stepped in front of her dishevelled girlfriend. 

The Bargainer looked less than impressed. He wore a neutral look of displeasure, but his eyebrow was twitching, his hands clenching and unclenching. His glowing eyes burned into the bars of the cage, poorly disguising his fury. His face unmoving, he lifted his hands and clapped slowly, unenthusiastically. 

“Now that that’s over,” he said patronisingly, “I’d quite like to continue. Well, it seems that you could save her. Of course, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. I am a demon of honour, after all.” The demon sighed and clapped his hands loudly twice. Hyunjin suddenly disappeared into thin airs. The demon rolled his eyes at Heejin’s reaction, “Calm down, little demon. I’ve sent her back to your realm. She’ll be in her own body now, safe and sound.”

The demon straightened his tie and nodded to his Odd Eye servants. While Choerry stepped forwards and locked the doors to the cage, Heejin still locked inside, the Bargainer lowered himself onto his throne and draped himself over the arms.

“Wait, you said you’d let us go,” Heejin cried, gripping onto the bars of the cage. 

The demon grinned, “No, I said I’d let your precious girlfriend go. I never said I’d let you go. Lud, you really are more human than demon, aren’t you? Should I make myself clearer? You. Are. Stupid.” He laughed heartily at Heejin’s crestfallen expression, even slapping his hands against the arms of his throne and doing a silly dance with his feet. 

Haseul could only stare at the demon in disbelief. How could it be that this evil creature was just an over-dramatic child? If she wasn’t determined to defeat him before, she was determined to defeat him now. 

The Bargainer finished with his laughing fit. He sat up regally and clapped his hands. 

“Now then, on to the main event,” he giggled. “Miss Wong, do you perchance remember the last thing I wanted you to draw? The thing you refused? Well, as it turns out, the thing you refused to destroy, you brought right to me! Seriously, I could not have planned this better myself. You are all so stupid it’s almost insulting. And now, I will get what I want.”

The demon leapt up onto his feet and jollily strode to the back of his elaborate throne room. He stopped in front of the stone statue. Fiddling with the buttons of his suit, he tilted his head.

“Hello, Kim Lip, remember me? I used to do a lot of… business with your kind, on behalf of the higher ups. Look at me now, I’m more powerful than you ever imagined. I’ve gone beyond the higher-ups. They cower at my feet!” he screamed at the stone statue. “And look at you, trapped within a stone statue. If only you had joined your friends when they offered you the chance. Although, I may well have just killed you anyway.” He swirled his wrists and two ginormous maces appeared in his hands. “And now, I’ll have my pets destroy the last remaining Odd Eye in existence. They’re less valuable if there’s more of them. Who’s an ass licking suck-up now?” He giggled maniacally. 

Choerry and Jinsoul appeared by the demon’s side. They took a mace each and took up their position on either side of the stone statue. 

Haseul felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She was going to be forced to watch Jungeun’s destruction and there was nothing she could do about it. 

Choerry’s frown deepened, her dark eye seemed sad, teary even, “What about the new Odd Eye?” she asked innocently. The demon didn’t even spare her a glance.

“Do you never listen? I told you that once she came to her full power, you’d bring her to me. If she doesn’t agree to my terms, she dies. What else did you think would happen? If you’ll remember, you failed to bring her to me and I kindly forgave you. Don’t make me regret my decision,” the demon waved his hands dismissively, “Get to it. And don’t get any dust on my suit. You’re not as indispensable as you think.”

Both Odd Eyes hesitated. Neither of them lifted their weapon. 

Haseul gasped.

“Vivi, they don’t want to do it! They don’t want to obey him! Maybe we can convince them,” Haseul whispered excitedly to the prisoner next to her. Vivi lifted her head. Haseul could actually see the moment the life returned to her eyes. The way the cogs turned in her head. A cunning smile lit up her face.

“Haseul, you are a genius,” she whispered. She glanced down at the floor, a grin starting to from on her face. She muttered to herself, “There’s always a way out.”

Haseul turned her attention back to the Bargainer and his very small entourage. 

The demon had crept ever closer to the purple eyed girl. He was getting up in her face, raising his voice louder and louder. 

“Do you not understand what I will do to you if you don’t obey me?” he was screaming, “Do you remember what I did to you when you failed to bring my Nephilim to me? Remember what I did to you, and imagine that but ten times worse. That’s what I will do to you if you disobey me. We had a deal,” he finished darkly. Choerry visibly gulped. She lowered her defiant gaze, fear taking over. She raised the shaky mace. Hesitantly, the blue eyed Odd Eye did the same, her tail flicking constantly. Huh, Haseul hadn’t noticed her tail before. 

“Wait!” Vivi screamed, “You don’t have to do this! The deals can be broken.”

“Liar,” the Bargainer spat in return. His voice had deepened, taking on a gravelly tone. It was becoming clear that the demon was struggling to retain his human façade. His eyes burned stronger, casting a red glow over everything he looked out. “The human lies!”

Jinsoul scowled, looking at her feet.

“If you guys ever liked me, you’ll listen to me,” Vivi cried. 

“Of course, they didn’t like you. They befriended you on my orders!” the demon laughed. His teeth were growing sharper. Haseul glanced nervously at her ex-girlfriend. She hoped that Vivi knew what she was doing. She didn’t seem to be helping. 

“You can break the deals! I’ve done it! You can too! There is always a way out!” the Cantonese woman cried. 

“Do as I say!” the demon began to scream repeatedly over Vivi’s appeals. The demon hunched over, his fingers curled into claws. His voice deepened further. When he spoke, it sounded as if a thousand people were screaming directly into Haseul’s ear. “Do as I say!” he screamed once more into Choerry’s face. 

“No,” she whispered defiantly. 

The Bargainer slapped her cheek, his claws raked across her cheek. Blood spurted out of her cheek, splashing onto his white suit. 

There was silence. 

Slowly, the Bargainer took a step backwards. He took a deep breath and collected himself. The claws on his hands retracted, his eyes dimmed a little. When he spoke, his voice had returned to normal. 

“I told you not to get my suit dirty. I guess I’ll have to kill you,” he shrugged nonchalantly. He yanked the mace off the disobedient girl and waved it away. His angry gaze turned back onto Jinsoul. He grinned pathetically. “You were always my favourite, Jinsoul. Destroy the statue, and maybe I’ll go easy on your little friend.”

With a pained expression, the blue eyed woman lifted her weapon. Haseul watched helplessly. At least they tried. What would she do without Jungeun’s protection? What would she do without Jungeun? She was falling in love with her. 

Haseul lowered her head, this was the worst moment to have such a realisation. She couldn’t watch. 

Haseul heard the mace swing. She didn’t hear it collide with stone. Confused, she looked up and saw the heavy weapon smash into the Bargainer’s stomach. 

The demon fell to the floor, his eyes widened in surprise. As did Jinsoul’s. The Odd Eye swore at the top of her lungs. The Bargainer began to stand up again, his shoulders hunching and his fingers turning into hideous claws. Jinsoul squeaked and swung the mace once more. It collided with the demon’s head with a horrible squelch. The Bargainer collapsed onto the floor. He didn’t get back up. 

“Oh my fuck, we have to leave before he kills us,” Jinsoul cried. Choerry nodded violently, blood oozing out of her wounds.

“He won’t be out for long,” she agreed. 

The pair nodded to each other, pulling small knives out of their pockets. The first thing they did was free the stone statue from her bindings. As soon as they did, the stone statue clapped both of their backs, her stone lips curling up in a proud smile. The pair of Odd Eyes rushed over to the prisoners. One of them released Heejin from her prison. They each sliced up the prisoner’s bindings, freeing their hands. Haseul looked at her free hands and grinned like an idiot. Without even thinking, she hugged her saviour. The purple eyed girl hugged her back tightly, burying her face in Haseul’s neck. When she pulled away, Haseul grinned at the frightened girl.

“You did the right thing,” she told her. The purple eyed girl shrugged sadly.

“I hope so,” she whispered, glancing back at the fallen demon. She shook her head, “We need to go now. Before he wakes up. If he removes his human façade, we’re all dead.”

Haseul nodded briefly in understanding. 

“Yerim!” Jinsoul cried, getting the attention of the girl with the purple eye. She grinned brightly when she saw the blue eyed woman pull a rich velvet sheet off a mirror. 

The younger Odd Eye rushed forwards and gripped Jinsoul’s hand.

“Everyone, grab onto each other. I’ll take you through the mirror!” she cried. 

Haseul had never seen her ex-girlfriend run so fast to the Odd Eyes. She clung onto Jinsoul’s back, pressing her face into her back. It made Haseul smile. Chaewon followed, clinging to Choerry’s arm while Heejin grabbed her free hand. The part demon hadn’t stopped crying. The stone statue held onto Jinsoul’s free arm and held her hand out to Haseul. Beaming, the short woman wrapped her hand around the cold stone. Too busy staring at Jungeun to actually look at her friend, Haseul absently gripped Jiwoo’s hand. 

The group began to make their way through the mirror, following one after another. 

Haseul finally realised that Jiwoo was shouting at her. She was trying to pull her hand out of Haseul’s grip.

“We can’t leave!” she was crying desperately, trying to run away from their exit, “We can’t go without her. I can’t just fucking leave her!”

Haseul let go of her friend’s hand, bewildered. She was being pulled towards the mirror, and their escape, as she watched Jiwoo run towards a fallen figure. Fuck, she’d forgotten Sooyoung. They’d all forgotten Sooyoung. How could she think of herself as a hero?

Instinctively, Haseul let go of Jungeun’s stone hand and ran in the same direction of her friend. She looked back briefly and saw the stone statue be pulled into the mirror. The mirror fell forwards and smashed on the floor. Haseul didn’t have time to run back to the mirror, she didn’t have time to even think, she just had to help her friend. 

Sooyoung was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes were distant. She didn’t even try to get out of her restraints now that her captor was incapacitated. Jiwoo slid onto the floor and pulled the unmoving woman onto her lap. She deftly removed the muzzle and threw it away. Gently, she stroked Sooyoung’s cheek with stars in her eyes. 

Haseul crouched beside her friend, watching her carefully. Sooyoung’s eyebrow’s furrowed. Her lips pursed as she raised her head, wriggling her body. Jiwoo grinned down at the fallen angel. 

“Chuu?” Sooyoung whispered. 

“Hey, Yves,” Jiwoo whispered back. Sooyoung looked around with a frown.

“Why did you come back for me? I’m not worth it,” she said, her voice was raspy. 

“Oh, Yves, you’re worth it to me,” Jiwoo said with a smile. Sooyoung’s smile was small, but it was there. The fallen angel scowled.

“Your wings?” she asked, clearly confused. 

“A story for another time,” Jiwoo deflected, “Now, let’s get you out of here.”

Haseul helped Jiwoo pull the taller woman onto her feet. Haseul pulled the seraphic knife out of her trousers with a wink and freed Sooyoung from her restraints. Once they’d done that, both of the short women put one of Sooyoung’s arms over their shoulders, supporting her as they tried to find a way out of the throne room, before the demon was reawakened. 

“You’re going the wrong way,” a voice drawled out of nowhere. From behind the throne, the black winged angel stepped out of the shadows. 

“Olivia Hye?” Jiwoo asked. Haseul was not as surprised as Jiwoo to see her. She’d seen her lurking in the shadows this whole time. 

The angel rolled her dark eyes, “There’s a portal to the human realm kept hidden behind the throne.”

“You’re with him now, aren’t you?” Jiwoo asked accusingly, “Did you do this to Yves?”

“Just leave, before I change my mind,” the dark angel waved her hands nonchalantly. She looked away from the trio while they raced around her. 

Sure enough, in the shadows behind the throne was a doorway. Within the doorway was swirling green vortex. Haseul nodded to Jiwoo with a heavy sigh. 

The pair carried Sooyoung and raced towards the portal. 

They fell through it and landed back where they had started, the stained carpet of Haseul’s living room.

Haseul laughed with sheer relief. She laughed and laughed until she began to cry.

She was glad to be out of hell, but she knew that hell had only just begun.


	28. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends!
> 
> Another chapter for your enjoyment. This is definitely a filler chapter but I hope it’s still enjoyable. Anyway, we’re entering the final few chapters now, we’re definitely leading up to a dramatic finale so please bear with me. Updates will probably be much slower now. Exams are over, but I don’t really have an excuse to sit at a laptop for hours at end and my parents are super nosy haha.
> 
> Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy. As always, comments are always welcome.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos. And as an important note, black lives matter.

It was cold in the apartment. Colder than it should have been. The first thing Haseul did, once she had stopped crying, was turn up the temperature of the thermostat. She glanced out of the window. It was windy and rainy outside. Haseul could barely see past the rain which slammed against the glass. Haseul hummed in confusion. She remembered looking at the weather forecast before they went to hell, it was supposed to be sunny for the whole week. And now they were in the midst of a storm. Haseul hoped the rest of her friends weren’t stuck out in the storm. Who knew where the mirror had taken them?

The short-haired woman turned and leant against the window. She folded her arms and watched the woman who was sprawled out over the sofa. Sooyoung had passed out the moment they passed through the portal. They’d placed her on the sofa. Her slumber seemed anything but peaceful. The woman was restless, unable to lie still, she was mumbling and whimpering constantly. The bruises on her face, arms and neck were starting to fade, her skin returning to its natural tone. The new scars across her tummy, however, did not fade. They were stuck there, a reminder of what she had gone through. Her uneven hair spread out over the pillow. Haseul looked at it critically, they’d have to cut it to an even length when she was awake.

Jiwoo sat peacefully beside her, dapping the sweat off the sleeping angel with a flannel. Haseul hated to admit it, but Sooyoung stank. She reeked of an awful combination of sweat and dirt and sulphur. 

“When she wakes, we’ll need to bathe her,” Haseul remarked. 

“Of course,” Jiwoo nodded, “But it’s more important that she rests.” Haseul nodded in agreement. 

“The weather’s crazy, huh? It’s not supposed to rain for another week or so.” Haseul asked, trying to illicit a joyful response from Jiwoo. She had never seen the fallen angel look so forlorn, even when she was crying over Sooyoung. It was one thing to be hurt by a loved one, it was another thing to see a loved one beaten to a pulp. 

Jiwoo shrugged, “Time works different in hell.”

Haseul frowned. Perhaps they had been in hell for longer than just one night. She searched around the apartment for her phone, and found it exactly where she had left it, on her dressing table. It was out of charge. She took it to the living room, where she had left her charger, and plugged in the device. Soon it lit up and switched itself back on. The short woman gasped when she saw the date illuminated over a picture of her childhood pet.

“Jiwoo, we’ve been gone for over a week!” Haseul cried. She glanced sympathetically at the angel who was whimpering in her sleep. “Fuck, how long was she trapped there for?”

Jiwoo shrugged sadly, her eyes never left the sleeping woman.

“I don’t know, she could have been there for months. We don’t even know exactly when she got captured. It could have been a few days for us, or a few weeks. How did we not notice that she had gone?” the fallen angel looked up, a tear trickled down her cute cheek. 

“Hey, Jiwoo, you can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known. You haven’t seen her since Vivi unnie’s party. Even Vivi unnie mentioned that Sooyoung had been pulling away, that she hadn’t seen her for a couple of weeks. Jiwoo, promise me you won’t blame yourself for what he did to her,” Haseul said passionately. The small angel sighed. She agreed half-heartedly, staring down at her former lover. 

Suddenly, Sooyoung bolted upright. Her chest was heaving, her breath was ragged. She screamed one word. 

Chuu.

The angel looked around, her eyes unfocussed. One hand clutched into fists around the blankets over her legs. The other came to her neck, where the collar used to be. She was scratching at her neck uselessly, trying to remove a collar that wasn’t there. 

Jiwoo sat forwards and grabbed the angel’s hand. She cooed at her soothingly, telling her she was there, she was there for her, she was safe. Sooyoung looked at Jiwoo and began to calm down a little. 

“You’re not real,” Sooyoung began to moan, “You’re just my imagination or a trick. You’re a trick. You’re not real.”

Jiwoo cradled Sooyoung’s hand and brought it to her face. The taller angel gripped her chin, then stroked her cheek gently. The smallest of smiles formed on her face. 

“I’m here for you, Sooyoung. What do you need?” Jiwoo asked tenderly. 

“Stay,” Sooyoung whispered. Jiwoo grinned. She slid down onto the sofa bed. Her grin only grew when Sooyoung put her head into Jiwoo’s lap, burying her nose into her tummy like an overgrown kitten. 

Haseul’s phone started to ring. It was an unknown number. Hesitantly, the short woman tapped the green answer button and held the phone to her ear. 

Surprisingly, it was Heejin who was shouting down the phone at her. 

“Unnie! You’ve got your phone! Where are you?” she shouted down the phone. Haseul could hear the sound of howling winds and heavy rain through the speaker. 

“I’m at home. Where are you?” she asked. 

“We landed in Jinsol unnie and Yerimmie’s apartment. We found a telephone booth to call you. We’ve been calling for, like, an hour now. We’re on our way to JYP to see if Hyunjin’s awake,” Heejin shouted. Haseul nodded. 

“Okay, I’ll meet you there, then,” Haseul confirmed. She heard Heejin make a noise of agreement. 

“Before you go, the stone lady that you, like, summoned keeps on following us around. She won’t let me touch her, or any of us, actually,” the part-demon whined loudly. “She’s written a note on a piece paper with your name on, but she won’t let any of us read it.”

“Oh, that’s just Jungeun,” Haseul said nonchalantly. 

“Jungeun as in the girl you like?” There was a pause. “Your girlfriend is a gargoyle?”

“I’ll see you at JYP, Heejin,” Haseul told the speaker and turned off the phone. She went to grab her heaviest rain coat, turning to Jiwoo as she spoke. 

“Are you gonna stay here with Sooyoung? Or are you planning on coming with me?” Haseul asked gently. Jiwoo smiled. 

“Say hello to Hyunjin for me, will you?” Jiwoo asked with a bright smile. 

“Sure,” Haseul nodded. She grinned mischievously, “And no shagging on the sofa.”

Jiwoo saluted her jokingly then went back to stroking the hair of the sleeping woman in her lap. Haseul, however, left the safety of her apartment and prayed that else would fucking happen. As much as she would have liked to sleep for a week, her friends needed her support. 

The journey to JYP was a quick, albeit wet one. Haseul had hopped onto a bus that took her to the church, but she had to walk a little to get to JYP. She nervously waited for her friends in the reception. The receptionist kept giving her a dirty look. She didn’t appreciate it. 

Finally, her friends arrived. It was Heejin who burst through the automatic doors first, her wings getting caught in the small gap as she rushed through them. Vivi and Chaewon followed the part-demon. Vivi headed straight to Haseul and hugged her tightly, burying her head in her neck. The two odd eyes shyly followed. As they stepped across the threshold, their mismatched eyes darted around the place, they clung to each other nervously. A stone grotesque brought up the rear. Haseul made eye-contact with Jungeun and her stomach decided to a backflip. Hell, her stomach did a whole gymnastics routine. The receptionist looked like she was shitting herself. It wasn’t every day you saw one of those ugly church statues walking around. 

Jungeun headed straight towards Haseul and silently placed the note in her hand. The handwriting was so bad that it was barely legible. But Haseul supposed that the note had been written by a person made of stone, it would be stupid to expect beautiful handwriting. Now that she thought about it, it was crazy that she was even receiving a hand-written note from a statue. 

Haseul’s eyes glanced over the poorly written words. They were short, the message was brief, but it said a lot. 

‘Haseul,

You are safe, I must leave you. I am trying to fight this. I want to spend as much time with you as I can. A curse is a curse. You are safe. I must look over the church.

Yours,  
Jungeun’

The stone statue reached out and pulled Haseul’s hand up to her rocky lips. The kiss to her knuckles was gentle, a soft brush of cold stone against warm skin. The tusks slotted in perfectly with her knuckles, but Haseul could feel no breath against her skin.

Haseul’s hand was released and the grotesque turned. Knowing that Jungeun was about to leave, she grabbed onto the hand of the stone statue.

“Wait, Jungeun, don’t go,” she called out. The statue turned and shrugged, her eyebrows slowly drawing in, forming an apologetic frown. The gesture was clear. She had to go. She had stayed for too long. Haseul smiled sadly, keeping her hold of Jungeun’s stone hand. “Will you at least let me give you a kiss goodbye?”

The stone statue nodded once, turning her body to face Haseul. The shorter woman stepped closer to Jungeun, putting her hands on either side of her stone face. She ignored the muttering around her, particularly JYP’s receptionist loudly questioning what was going on. She ignored Chaewon pointedly asking if she was really going to kiss a fucking statue. Haseul’s eyes fluttered shut as she closed the gap between her and Jungeun. 

Her lips pressed against cold, unmoving stone. She was going to pull away, but she was sure she felt some pressure against her lips. Haseul felt two hands rest on either side of her waist. She kissed the statue harder, her arms wrapping around Jungeun’s neck. 

Jungeun returned the kiss with growing passion. Haseul could feel Jungeun’s lips warm up and soften against her own lips. The stone beneath her hands became soft and smooth. It was strange, it was like she could feel the stone tusks shrinking against her. Silky hair fell over her hands. The stone wings on her back seemed to be getting smaller. Haseul entwined her fingers in the velvety locks. She felt Jungeun’s breath on her. She felt Jungeun’s breath on her!

With a gasp, Haseul pulled out of the kiss. 

She was no longer staring at a stone face, she was staring at a human’s face. Jungeun’s face. She wasn’t stone! It was Jungeun, in the flesh.

Jungeun grinned brightly and laughed. She pulled away and glanced at her hands, flexing and clenching her fingers. 

“I’m not stone,” she exclaimed, “Haseul, you broke the curse! I’m not stone!”

Two hands settled on Haseul’s face, pulling her into another intense kiss. The shorter woman put her hands on Jungeun’s waist, pulling her body close, as close as she possibly could. She ran her hands up and down her back, glad that there were no stone wings in her way. In that moment, all she could feel was Jungeun, all she wanted was Jungeun. 

They both pulled away at the same time, resting their foreheads against one another’s. They breathed heavily in unison. 

And then Jungeun’s eye fell out. 

The brunette caught the eye in her hand, staring down at in disbelief. 

“Well, that killed the moment,” Haseul remarked. Jungeun looked up with a grin.

“When I was cursed to become stone, my odd eye was ripped out and replaced with this. Do you know what this means? It means I’m free! I’m finally free!”

Haseul hugged her potential girlfriend tightly then pulled away with a teasing grin.

“I think we might need to get you an eyepatch,” she remarked. 

Heejin cleared her throat loudly.

“Um, not to ruin the moment or anything, but we didn’t come here to watch you make out with a statue, unnie. Like, this is super romantic and everything, but we’re kinda here for a different reason,” Heejin whined. Haseul glanced at Jungeun’s sheepish expression and burst out laughing. 

“I’m sorry, Heejin, let’s go get your girlfriend,” Haseul laughed. 

Gripping tightly onto Jungeun’s hand, Haseul walked down the sterile corridors of JYP. The receptionist had buzzed them through, explaining that she didn’t want to watch whatever the hell was going on anymore. Haseul noticed how Jinsoul and Choerry were nervously shuffling down the corridors. She suddenly remembered that those two used to be a part of the Odd Eye Initiative, they must have gone through all sorts of torture in this strange place. 

Heejin lead them down the unfortunately familiar corridor and stopped outside an office. Haseul recognised it. She came to this office the last time she visited this godforsaken corporation. The part-demon knocked once and didn’t wait for a response, she opened the door forcefully. Haseul followed the younger girl into the office, still gripping onto Jungeun’s cool hand. 

The office was occupied by two women. One of them was a little too familiar, the other woman, Haseul had seen her before but she couldn’t remember her name. She had mid-length dark hair, a mischievous smile and clever eyes. She was fairly tall for a woman, but normal tall rather than unnaturally tall like Tzuyu. This woman was stood up, she was hunched over Jihyo’s desk fiddling with something. As Haseul joined Heejin in barging into the woman’s office, she saw what she was fiddling with. Jihyo’s forearm was lying on the desk. Attached to her stump was a metal covering. Attached to the metal covering was a mechanical hand. A compartment on the hand was open, the new woman was tinkering with the electronics. 

When they barged into the room, the new woman closed the compartment and stepped away from the desk. Her stance and stature made her look like an experienced soldier. She probably was. Meanwhile, Jihyo lifted her arm and inspected the mechanical hand, flexing and curling the robotic fingers. 

“Thank you, unnie, you’ve outdone yourself,” she complemented the tall woman, who puffed up her chest and grinned. Jihyo turned her attention to the pack of dishevelled girls. Her eyebrows furrowed. She slowly lowered a robotic finger. Haseul followed the woman’s eyeline to Jungeun. Ah. Perhaps bringing Jungeun into JYP was not the best of ideas.

“You’re the bitch who stole my hand,” Park Jihyo declared accusingly. 

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” Jungeun replied. “If it makes you feel any better, my eye just fell out. Would you like it?” She extended her arm and opened her previously closed fist, revealing an eyeball in her palm. Jihyo curled her lip upwards in disgust.

“Can I have it?” the unknown tall woman asked, already taking the eyeball out of Jungeun’s palm. 

The strange interaction over, Jihyo cleared her throat.

“I know what you’re here for. The girl you brought to us has awoken. She seems fine. She was asking for you. Jeongyeon here can escort you to her,” Jihyo sighed. Her eyes fell on the two women with mismatched eyes. A frown befell on her face, “And you might want to leave as soon as you get her. If Director Park hears that there’s a couple of Odd Eyes walking around his building and we didn’t attempt to capture them… well, let’s not think about that.”

The tall woman, Jeongyeon, led them away from Jihyo’s office and down a very quiet corridor. They stopped abruptly at a door. Jeongyeon waved goodbye and walked off, inspecting Jungeun’s eyeball as she wandered off. 

Haseul peeped through the window. There she was… Hyunjin. Alive and awake. She was sat on the edge of a hospital bed wearing a hospital gown. Clearly bored out of her mind, she was swinging her legs back and forth, her cat-like eyes directed at the ground. 

“I guess you’ll want a moment with her alone,” Haseul asked Heejin. The part-demon nodded shyly. Haseul stepped aside and let the winged woman open the door.

Haseul turned away to give them their privacy. She could hear bright peals of laughter and shouted declarations of love behind her. Haseul grinned. 

“They’re making out now,” Vivi announced. She sighed, “Fucking hell, why is everyone making out with each other today, apart from me?”

“I’ll make out with you,” Jinsoul piped up. 

“Huh?”

“What? I didn’t say anything,” Jinsoul declared, poorly covering her tracks. Haseul laughed loudly. She stopped when she saw Jungeun grinning at her. Her laughter was replaced with a shy giggle and flushed cheeks. 

Soon, Heejin walked back out of the room.

“Hyunjin’s getting changed. Someone left her a JYP tracksuit, one of the ones they made us train in,” the part-demon said. Her cheeks were dusted with red. It was nice seeing the red on Heejin’s cheeks caused by a deep blush rather than coloured tears. It was nice to see people happy for a change. 

Hyunjin soon appeared in the doorway. 

“Thanks guys, for saving me. I love all of you. Except you with the missing eye. I don’t know who you are,” Hyunjin told the group frankly. Haseul squealed. That was their Hyunjin alright. She hugged her friend tightly, then began to push her towards her exit. 

The group, lead by Heejin, walked down the sterile corridors. As they were close to the door, Choerry stopped in her tracks. 

“Wait, we can’t go yet,” she said. She put her hand over her purple eye. “She’s… we have to… unnie.” Jinsoul took her friend’s hand. 

“The Odd Eye. She’s waking up. We can feel it,” she explained darkly. 

“She needs someone with her, it feels…” the purple eyed girl trailed off. 

“Explosive,” Jinsoul finished. 

Yeojin. There was no way Haseul was going to leave her little sister in this world of contradictions. Who knew what they’d do to her when she woke?

“It’s Yeojin, we have to help her,” Haseul said. The group seemed a little hesitant. “Please, she’s my sister,” Haseul pleaded. The two Odd Eyes nodded and turned on their heels. The group followed them hesitantly. 

“How do they know where they’re going?” Hyunjin cried. 

Jungeun spoke calmly, “Odd Eyes are linked together. We can feel it when one of us wakes up. They’re following the energy traces.”

“Can you feel it to?” Haseul asked. The brunette shook her head, a forlorn little scowl formed on her face. She squeezed Haseul’s hand. 

The Odd Eyes got to Yeojin’s room first. 

It may have been too late.

There was an orange light coming through the door’s window. The orange light illuminated the corridor when the door was thrown open. 

Yeojin’s tiny body was lying on the hospital bed. Her heart monitor was going crazy. According to the constant beep, she was dead. But they could see her chest heaving. An orange glow came from her skin, casting its dusky light all over the room. It was so bright that Haseul had to cover her eyes until they adjusted to the intense brightness. 

Yeojin took a loud, deep breath. She sat up in her bed and ripped out all the wires attached to her. Her head whipped around to the group at the door. 

“Unnies… he’s coming,” she said. 

Her normally coloured eyes rolled back and she collapsed backwards again.

Her body went stiff, her breathing was loud. Slowly, her body was raised into the air, floating on its own accord. The blanket slipped off her legs. Yeojin’s jaw fell open and a beam of burning light burst from her mouth. The orange glow of her skin brightened. It was difficult to even look at without burning one’s eyes. Perhaps the strangest thing was how her hair was beginning to lighten. Before their very eyes, her dark tresses became lighter and lighter. Streaks of platinum blonde shot through the lightening locks. 

“Don’t just stand there you fucking idiots,” Jungeun cried, “She’s got too much energy. It’s going to consume her!”

The two other Odd Eyes exchanged a glance and a nod. They rushed up to the bed, one on either side and each took on of Yeojin’s hands. They closed their eyes and bowed their heads, clearly concentrating hard.

“What are they doing?” Haseul whispered to the woman whose hand she was still grasping.

“They’re sharing the energy between them. When we were part of the circle, if an Odd Eye woke up they’d send warriors to collect the Odd Eye. They didn’t just do it to collect them for the circle, but to prevent the energy that turns them from human to Odd Eye from destroying them. Yeojin, she should have transformed when she was ten, but the energy was somehow internalised. It’s been building in her for all these years, like a pressure cooker,” Jungeun explained hastily. “Yerim and Jinsol are sharing the energy between them. The more people it’s shared between, the less likely it is to cause any permanent damage.”

As she finished speaking, the light coming from Yeojin seemed to dim. 

Instead, a purple and a blue glow began to infuse with the orange. 

The intense colours came from the skin and eyes of the other two Odd Eyes. Their eyes burst open and focussed on Yeojin, casting her in a deep violet light. When mixed together, the lights made a purpley-reddish-brown colour. 

Jinsoul gripped the hospital bed and groaned, trying to keep her eyes on the girl above her. Her hair flew backwards as if it had been blown back by a strong gust of wind. Choerry cried out. Her faded hair was turning a vibrant purple. 

Light exploded out of all three Odd Eyes. Haseul shielding her eyes.

Something was burning. The horrible smell of burning cotton attacked Haseul’s nose. She heard a panicked squeak and opened her eyes. 

The hospital bed was alight, with Yeojin’s body in it. Yet, she seemed completely unbothered by the flames. 

Yeojin sat up on the burning bed and looked at her hands, turning them over with delight. She looked at her hair, combing the newly blonde locks with her fingers. She grinned and looked at the door. 

“I’m alive!” she cried joyfully. 

What struck Haseul the most about her new appearance was the burning orange eye. 

Her eye looked like a burning ember. Dark, burnt orange surrounded a black pupil. A half-moon of tiger orange lay beneath the iris, giving her eyes its fiery glow. 

“Why are you all staring at me like that?” Yeojin asked, scowling childishly. “Actually, who even are you lot?”

“You don’t recognise us?” Haseul asked. Fuck, her sister was going to forget her. Again. 

“Well of course I recognise you, unnie,” Yeojin scoffed, “You’re my sister. And I recognise Kim Lip. It’s weird seeing you outside of the church. Oh, and you two are the ones who tried to kidnap me!” The tiny woman stared at the two other Odd Eyes with as much poison as she could muster. 

“We’re not here to do that,” Choerry piped up, “We don’t work for that demon anymore.” The purple haired girl reached out to touch the girl. She squeezed her hand, but quickly retracted her hand, unable to withstand the heat of the flames. A slight blush formed on Yeojin’s chubby cheeks. 

Something clicked in Haseul’s brain.

“Wait, Yeojin… did you just call me your sister?” she asked. 

“Well yeah, of course I did. You’re my fucking sister, you dumbass,” Yeojin’s eyes widened and she gasped loudly. “I remember. I remember everything! I remember you, I remember mum and dad and… oh my god, do they think I’m dead? Wait, what was it you said about mum? Didn’t you tell me…?”

Haseul nodded sadly. Yeojin lowered her head. 

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Haseul turned and saw Dr Myoui stood behind them, her arms folded. She was wearing a lab coat which was covered in splashes of various colours. 

“Is- is she okay?” the doctor asked nervously. Haseul stepped out of the way and let the petite woman stride into the room. She began examining Yeojin thoroughly, checking her heart beat and pulse. Dr Myoui frowned. 

“Your odd eye has been activated, has it not?” she asked quietly. Yeojin nodded a little uncomfortably. Dr Myoui hummed. She threw her stethoscope over her shoulder and sighed, pressing her hands to her temples. 

“I think you guys should take Yeojin and leave,” she suggested. “Jihyo thinks she’ll be safer here, but I’ve read the reports. I know what they used to do your kind. It’s… I believe that it will be better if she leaves.”

The blonde doctor’s eyes fell onto the two Odd Eyes on either side of the bed. She stepped back, fear lighting her eyes.

“You two… you tried to steal her away,” she whispered furiously. 

“Oh no, don’t worry about them. They’re not with the demon now,” Haseul spoke loudly. Dr Myoui nodded in understanding. 

“In that case, it is imperative that you leave as soon as possible. Before Director Park finds out that the remaining Odd Eyes are in all in his premises. It won’t be pretty,” she smiled awkwardly. She placed a delicate hand on Yeojin’s shoulder, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help you. I’ll miss you a lot, stay safe.”

Yeojin smiled sadly, “Will you say goodbye to Pastor Kim for me? And Chaeyoung and Tzuyu unnie? And everyone else?”

“Of course,” Dr Myoui agreed. She turned to the rest of the group. “Go, now. And be glad it was me who found you all here.”

Jungeun came forwards and scooped the still physically weak Yeojin into her more than capable arms. 

They took off running down the halls, ignoring the shouts of various JYP employees that called out after them. 

The apartment was quiet when they walked in. The whole group had decided to go Haseul and Vivi’s flat to decide everyone’s living situation, since their numbers had grown some more. 

Sat on a chair in the middle of the living room was Sooyoung. Her head was lowered, her eyes closed. The chair was on top of a plastic sheet. Jiwoo circled the broken angel with a pair of scissors. She was chopping off her uneven hair, making it more even. 

As Haseul approached her friend, Jiwoo raised her head and put her finger on her lips. The meaning was clear. Stay quiet, don’t frighten Sooyoung. The group watched awkwardly as Jiwoo cut off the last of Sooyoung’s locks. Her dark hair now sat just below her shoulders. It was nice, it suited her. Haseul hoped Sooyoung would be happy with it when she was better. She had seemed to take pride in her long, luscious hair. 

“Hey, Sooyoung, I’m all done now,” Jiwoo said quietly. The angel looked up at Jiwoo and smiled at her. Haseul’s heart melted a little bit. She noticed that Sooyoung’s clothes had been changed. She was actually wearing one of Jiwoo’s t-shirts and a pair of Vivi’s designer sweat pants. They were far too short, flapping around the tops of her ankles. Haseul was glad that Jiwoo had managed to get Sooyoung to wash while they were out. 

Sooyoung’s eyes fell onto the group. She shrunk back in the chair, lowering her head submissively and reached for Jiwoo’s hand. The fallen angel clearly took a deep breath before she raised her head. 

“Hi guys,” she greeted them, her voice was rough and raspy. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

Vivi slowly approached her friend and lowered herself to her knees, maintaining steady eye-contact with Sooyoung. 

“I’m so glad you’re alive. I was so worried about you,” she admitted breathlessly. Sooyoung hugged her friend awkwardly. Vivi beamed at her and played with the ends of her newly cut hair. “I like this length on you.”

Sooyoung blushed a little and smiled. Jiwoo beamed down at the pair and squeezed Sooyoung’s shoulder. The angel turned serious and turned her face up to Jiwoo.

“Jiwoo, soon we’ll have to have a talk about your wings,” she said seriously. Jiwoo chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I removed them myself. I didn’t do it to impress you, I did it for myself,” she said firmly. Sooyoung looked her up and down. 

“You look better without them,” she said finally. The light dropped out of her eyes again. “Jiwoo, I’m tired.”

“I know, sweetie. Let’s get you back to bed, hm?” she said quietly and helped Sooyoung across the living room, back to the sofa bed. Amazingly, Sooyoung seemed to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

Haseul guided her friends into their kitchen. Once Jiwoo joined, she closed the door. 

Jiwoo sighed, “Well, she’s not the same Sooyoung we once knew. The Bargainer was awful to her, her whole body is covered in scars. But, Sooyoung’s still in there. I think with some rest, she’ll be better.”

Haseul nodded and grasped her friend’s hand. Jiwoo smiled at her thankfully. 

The group sat around the kitchen table to discuss their next move. Apparently, their first move was to get some goddamn sleep. They discussed their temporary living arrangements. 

It was decided easily. 

They weren’t going to move Jiwoo and Sooyoung, and it would be good for Sooyoung for her to be around people who loved her. Jungeun would stay with Haseul, that decision was made for the pair. Haseul looked away from her lover with burning cheeks. Heejin and Hyunjin offered for Chaewon to stay with them but the blonde refused, saying that if she didn’t want to be awoken by their awful sex noises. Instead, Chaewon insisted on staying with the two Odd Eyes, who had welcomed Yeojin into their home with open eyes. The little blonde eyed the pair suspiciously until they gave in. 

Before everybody left, Jungeun insisted on having a chat with the two other Odd Eyes, her former friends in private. Haseul helped Vivi make them all some food to pass the time. 

When the trio returned to the kitchen, the blue eyed and purpled eyed girl reintroduced themselves. 

“Since we are now friends, we think it’s important that you learn our real names,” the purple haired girl said, “After all, there is power in the birth name of an Odd Eye. Not even the Bargainer knows our real names.”

“My name is Jung Jinsol, Odd Eye name is Jinsoul,” Jinsol explained with a nod of her head.

“And I’m Choi Yerim. Odd Eye name is Choerry,” Yerim said with a brilliant smile. Yeojin stood and raised her head boldly. 

“My name is Yeojin and my birth name is Jo Hajin,” she announced proudly. She turned to Jungeun. The winged woman stood with a grin.

“And I’m Kim Jungeun, odd eye name is Kim Lip,”

Haseul thought she might cry. 

Haseul was lying face up on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She sensed Jungeun looking at her and turned her head a little to hide her flushing cheeks. This was not how she imagined spending the night with Jungeun for the first time. She thought it would full of passion and burning skin and wandering hands. Instead, they were lying still surrounded by awkward silence and sweltering blankets. 

“So... what now?” Jungeun asked out of nowhere. 

“We go to sleep, I guess,” Haseul said hesitantly. She heard Jungeun chuckle. 

“No, I mean what happens tomorrow and the day after that... and the future. What happens between us?”

“Oh. Well, I guess I go back to college and get my degree and get a job. As for us... you still owe me an amazing date missus,” Haseul teased. She turned her head and caught Jungeun’s blinding smile directed at her. Suddenly, the brunette turned more serious. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to go back to living a normal life after everything that’s happened?” Jungeun asked sincerely. 

“I... don’t know,” the short-haired woman admitted quietly. She felt Jungeun’s fingers brush against her hand and eagerly held onto it. There was something about her strong, solid hands that grounded her. 

“Whatever you choose, I’m here for you. I’ll be there for as long as you want me around,” the one-eyed woman grinned. 

Touched, Haseul rolled over and pressed gentle kiss on her lovers lips. Jungeun beamed at her in return with her genuine toothy smile that could bring sunshine to the darkest of days. It would have been impossible to resist kissing her again, so Haseul didn’t even bother to try to suppress that urge. 

This kiss lasted longer than the previous sweet peck. Jungeun’s hand left Haseul’s, but it came to rest on her hip instead. Haseul caressed her lover’s face as she pulled away. 

Tenderly, she traced the strap of Jungeun’s new eye patch. Grinning viciously, she pulled on the strap and let it go. The elastic slapped against her lover’s temples, making her pull away with yelp. Jungeun pouted, but this only made Haseul giggle more. 

Rolling her eye playfully, the taller woman clambered over Haseul and straddled her hips. 

“Now you’re in for it,” she warned, wiggling her fingers. Haseul raised her eyebrow challengingly. Instead of responding verbally, she reached out and pulled in Jungeun’s eye-patch once more. 

Grinning, Jungeun began to tickle the shorter woman’s sides. Gleefully, Haseul wiggled and giggled beneath the brunette. All of a sudden, the brunette leant down and planted a firm kiss on Haseul’s lips. 

“What was that for?” Haseul giggled against Jungeun’s lips. 

“You looked so beautiful. I love your smile,” she muttered, her breath hot against Haseul’s mouth. The shorter woman wrapped her arms around Jungeun, pulling her body close as she resumed their kiss. 

It quickly became heated. Haseul’s hands rubbed up and down her lover’s back. She put one hand in her thick, lustrous hair and let her blunt nails scrape against her scalp while Jungeun explored her mouth. Cheekily, Haseul raised her leg a little, just enough to press against Jungeun between her legs. The moan she struggled to keep in was simply delicious. 

In return, Jungeun’s hot lips travelled down Haseul’s jawline, mapping her face, and settled into her neck. Haseul tugged harder on her hair when the brunette began to kiss and gently nip at her neck, travelling up and down it until she found the spot that made her writhe. Haseul was experiencing bliss. Sheer bliss. 

After a while, Jungeun returned her lips to Haseul’s face. While she was moving, the short woman took advantage of her distraction and flipped the two of them over. The surprise was evident in Jungeun’s face. The combination of flushed cheeks, red lips, widened eyes and slackened jaw would have been enough to make anyone laugh. 

“Haha!” Haseul cried triumphantly, “I beat you! Bow down to your queen!”

A gentle hand caressed her cheek. Jungeun looked up at her with the sweetest smile Haseul had ever seen. 

“You are my queen,” she whispered. Slowly, she raised herself upwards to capture Haseul’s lips with her own. The tone of the kiss was different to what it was before. Before, it felt like they were horny teenagers desperate to fuel their desire for one another. Now, it was slow, languid and increasingly sensual, like pressure building in a volcano ready to erupt with passion. 

Clothes were slowly removed. They knew they had time to enjoy each other and they revelled in it. As Jungeun lazily lapped at Haseul’s breasts, the shorter woman fiddled with the waistband of her lovers bottoms, pulling them down. 

With every moan, Haseul’s smile grew wider and wider. Jungeun repeatedly cried Haseul’s name as her hips synchronised with her the movement of her lovers fingers over her exposed core. 

The volcano erupted. Jungeun fell apart. With a few more caresses, a few more well placed touches, Haseul soon followed. She finished on top of Jungeun, her face buried into her neck. 

Haseul rolled off her lover and laughed. 

“Was that okay?” Jungeun asked nervously. The short haired woman grinned and snuggled into her lover. 

“That was amazing,” she said truthfully. “I feel so safe with you, like nothing bad will ever happen again.”

Jungeun huffed good-naturedly, “Well, lets hope that’s true.”

Hyejoo was frightened. She could not deny that. She was so very frightened. But that didn’t mean she would cry, of course not. She would not cry. She would never fucking cry, no matter how much she wanted to. She plucked a feather from her own wing and stared at it. 

What had happened to her? How could she have let this happen? What was she becoming?

Hyejoo wondered around the messy throne room. Something cracked when she stepped on it. Frowning, she bent down and picked up the offending object. It was a shard of a mirror. Hyejoo gazed into her reflection critically. 

Her facial features themselves hadn’t changed from the last time she saw them. But there was something different about her reflection. Perhaps it was the cold stare or the wrinkles forming on her forehead, or even the downwards curve of her lips. Her face seemed to be set in a permanent scowl. She smiled at her reflection. Although her lips moved, the reflection’s eyes remained emotionless. The scowl didn’t shift. 

Hyejoo dropped the mirror shard as if had burnt her. She stared down at the shard, the volcano in her chest starting to erupt. Smoke burst around her heart and she stamped on the shard repeatedly until it was merely dust. She even kicked the dust away. 

The angel crouched down and put her head in her hands. 

What was she becoming? Had she really let her anger take over everything?

Fuck, even seeing Yves suffer, it didn’t do anything to quell her anger. It didn’t make her angrier, which was nice, but it gave her no satisfaction. As much as she hated to admit it, seeing Yves like that kind of hurt. Yes, she hated Yves with every fibre of her being, but she was the angel who practically raised her. She used to be like a sister to her. 

It was her own fault, she brought it on herself. 

But still, the image of Yves lying on the floor was burnt into her mind. The image of Yves lying on the ground while the Bargainer whipped her back over and over again, while he took a knife to her scars and reopened them repeatedly, while she beat her and watch the bruises fade. Hyejoo had watched the life fade from Yves eyes. She had listened to her cry, listened to her whimper in her sleep, calling out for Chuu. It was pathetic. 

It was more pathetic how it hurt to watch. 

Every time Hyejoo closed her eyes that’s what she saw, Yves. Or Chuu’s face when she saw Yves. Or Chuu’s look of betrayal when she saw Hyejoo. She shouldn’t have been so surprised, Hyejoo thought to herself. It wasn’t her fault that everyone abandoned her. Another image kept invading her mind, Gowon. Her blonde face and her dark, tearful eyes just wouldn’t leave her mind. 

Guilt. It was overwhelming. Hyejoo wanted to cry. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Not in front of the Bargainer. 

Speaking of, the Bargainer strode back into her throne room. He was wearing a new suit, a handsome olive green number. His glowing eyes scanned his destroyed room. He clapped his hands and everything returned to normal. There were no more stains on the carpets. No more broken restraints littering the floor. No more cracked mirror shards. 

Hyejoo raised herself up when she saw the demon. She watched him curiously as he began to stalk across the newly cleaned throne room. The Bargainer headed straight towards the forsaken angel. He grabbed her shirt and forcefully threw her to the floor. 

“A right lot of good you were, you useless shit! You let them get away, stupid, little bitch,” he snarled. Hyejoo opened her mouth to speak, but a sharp slap to her cheek silenced her. “Don’t speak. I don’t want excuses. Remember our deal, you belong to me and you will do what I say. And when I say make sure they don’t escape, don’t let them escape. You even let my little pet escape, you fucking imbecile! Fuck, I have to do everything myself around here.”

Hyejoo lowered her head and listened silently. She was used to her master’s speeches. The Bargainer sighed and straightened his tie. 

“Be thankful I’m too busy to deal with your disobedience. I should cut off your wings for punishment but I need your abilities,” he hummed to himself. A horrifying grin split his face. “Now then, little angel, get prepared. We have a little job to do.”

“What are we gonna do?” Hyejoo asked, starting to feel genuinely frightened. 

“Well, little angel. If Miss Wong won’t come to me, I will go to her. I will personally drag her to hell myself, if necessary. It’s time to get my hands dirty,” the Bargainer. Swirled his hands, a large, golden javelin appeared in his hand. The demon grinned at the sharp blade at the top. “I will get what I want and I don’t care who gets in my way.”

The demon snapped his fingers. Swarms of goblins and hordes of demons began to creep through the cracks in the walls, some even bursting up through the floor. Hyejoo looked around and began to shake. The throne room the Bargainer had tirelessly created was falling apart around her. The demon looked down with creepy smile. 

“Nobody escapes the Bargainer.”


	29. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance for this chapter, it’s a lot. There’s a lot going on, and that’s why it took so long to write so sorry for the wait.
> 
> Anyway, as always, feel free to leave me a comment. I like feedback. 
> 
> As a note, this isn’t the final chapter, I’ve still got some story left.
> 
> And Black Lives Matter. Of course.

Two days past. Two days of quiet recuperation past and Haseul still felt restless. Something wasn’t right. She knew that. And she couldn’t ignore it. She was thankful that Jungeun was beside her, keeping her grounded. They’d gone out together and bought her a nice eye-patch, it was simple and black, but nice. Much better than the scrappy thing Haseul found in her wardrobe attached to a Halloween costume that she wore several years ago (she and her friends went as a band of lesbian pirates to terrorise a party of straights). 

Vivi disappeared for the two days. She went into her room and didn’t come out. Haseul left her some food and water by the door every meal time. Vivi has done the same during Haseul’s worst depressive episode. 

Chaewon messaged Haseul and Jiwoo frequently, keeping them updated on the Odd Eyes. Her messages ranged from letting them know about them helping Yeojin with her newfound powers to telling them what they were having for dinner (burnt chicken nuggets), to complaining how Yeojin and Yerim were getting on a little too well for her liking. There was something strangely human about her messages that made Haseul feel more comfortable. 

Sooyoung had remained in their flat for the whole two days, apart from when Jiwoo took her out for a short walk. With each passing hour, Sooyoung was slowly returning to herself. She’d started to make snarky comments and crack silly jokes. Jiwoo nearly cried when Sooyoung rolled her eyes at her and called her stupid. However, there was an odd tension between the pair of angels. Perhaps it was the weight of unspoken words or the lingering effect of their last argument. 

After day one, Heejin and Hyunjin got a noise complaint from their neighbours. Apparently, the crashing and banging and screams of pain when they were getting attacked by a demon were fine, but lesbian sex was not. 

As much as she wanted it to, Haseul knew that this period of tranquility would not last forever. 

Haseul was awoken when she felt someone digging the palm of their hand into her shoulder. She heard her name being called out. Groggily, the short-haired woman opened her eyes and saw a pair of pretty, dark eyes staring down at her. Vivi’s eyebrows were turned down in a deep frown. 

“Haseul, he’s coming for me, he’s coming to get me,” she whispered continuously. Sleepy fogginess still dampened Haseul’s mind. 

“Who?” she croaked. Beside her, the half-sleeping woman groaned and removed her arm from Haseul’s waist to lift up her eyepatch and scratch below the empty socket. 

“Him! The Bargainer! He whispered in my ear in my dreams, he’s coming for me,” Vivi hissed. 

Still half-asleep, Haseul patted the newly formed space between herself and Jungeun. Her ex-girlfriend hesitated, but soon lowered herself into gap, above the covers. Possibly instinctively, she rested her head on Haseul’s shoulder. The younger woman could feel her sweet breath against her bare skin. Haseul glanced over Jungeun, who seemed a little amused. Haseul was simply glad that her lover wasn’t raging with jealousy, though that didn’t seem to be in her nature. She knew all about her and Vivi, and yet she was comfortable with them almost cuddling in their bed. Perhaps she was so relaxed because it was she who was lying naked beneath the sheets, not Vivi. 

“What happened between you and that demon? Why is he after you?” Haseul asked softly. Her roommate sighed against her bare shoulder. Silent as always. “You know, if you tell us, it might help us protect you better.”

“I never thought you’d find out, I always thought I’d take my secret to my grave,” Vivi whispered, “Promise me you won’t hate me?”

Haseul promised. As did Jungeun, even though she was probably aware that her promise would mean very little to her lover’s ex-girlfriend. 

“I was born with a gift. When my father discovered it, he took advantage of it and used my curse for his own political and criminal pursuits. God, I hate him. I was so tired of... of... destroying families and taking lives... that I decided I would do anything to be free,” Haseul felt her tears drip onto her shoulder. Vivi continued, “I made a deal with the Bargainer and I came here, to Korea, and I met you. Haseul, you made me forget about my past. For the first time in my life, I felt loved, I felt happy. But then... the Bargainer’s demands became greater and greater. I had given him my gift, so he used me to channel my gift and commit atrocities. I had to get out. After father disowned me, I set vessel containing my gift alight and broke the deal. He was furious, he swore to destroy me and everything I loved. I thought it didn’t matter if I died, as long as the people I loved were safe.”

Vivi looked up and stared at Haseul’s face. Tears streamed down her cheeks. 

“Haseul, I don’t want to die,” she whimpered. 

“And you won’t,” Haseul said firmly, “If he comes for you, we’ll make sure you’re protected. We won’t let him get you. I promise.”

Vivi sniffled her thanks and snuggled into Haseul’s side. She was sobbing. Haseul glanced over at Jungeun in panic. Obviously she had seen her ex cry before. She cried when she broke up with Haseul. However, she’d never seen her sob like this before. 

A little awkwardly, Haseul patted Vivi’s head and cooed gently at her. Looking alarmed, Jungeun gently rubbed Vivi’s back while mouthing ‘what is happening’ at Haseul. 

Suddenly, Haseul’s bedroom door burst open and Jiwoo peeked her head around the frame. A fearful scowl settled on her cute features. 

“Um, Haseul unnie... I think you should see this,” she squeaked. She squealed again and covered her eyes when Haseul rolled out of bed and shoved on her dressing gown to cover her naked body. Haseul turned and poked her tongue out at Jungeun, who had wolf-whistled. 

A little confused, the short-haired woman padded across the hall to her living room. Sooyoung was perched on the sofa bed with her legs crossed, watching the news of the TV. Her hair was messy, like she’d just woken up, and she wore a tank top that showed off her lithe body and the myriad of red lines that marred her back. She was crunching on a bowl of cereal. 

She startled a little when she heard Haseul approach. Her shoulders raised and she whipped her head around to see who was behind her, the spoon still in her mouth. Her whole body relaxed when she saw it was just Haseul and Jiwoo. And Jungeun too. The brunette had appeared behind Haseul and hugged her waist, giving her a chaste kiss on her neck which made the shorter woman giggle. 

Sooyoung slipped the spoon out of her mouth to make way for the familiar smirk that appeared on her face. 

“Aren’t you two domestic?” she remarked dryly. Haseul simply grinned in response. Sooyoung turned back to the television and said gravely, “I think you two should see the news.”

Haseul settled on the edge of the sofa bed. Jiwoo came and nestled in the gap between her and the sitting angel. When she placed her hand on Sooyoung’s thigh, the tall angel placed her bowl on the window, freeing her hands so that she could place one large hand on top of Jiwoo’s little one. It was sweet. 

The scene on the news, however, was less than sweet. In the centre of the city was a deep, black hole. It was in the middle of a road. The black tarmac crumbled into the ever growing hole. 

‘The Hell Pit’. That’s what the news called it. Scientists were baffled. It had appeared seemingly overnight and started as a black spot as small as a pinprick. It was now the size of a large car, and was quickly growing to be the size of a lorry. 

The police has sectioned off the hole, of course. They had called for military back up. Nobody knew what was going in. 

Haseul thought she might have an idea what it was. 

“Oh fuck,” they heard Vivi say loudly. 

Someone’s phone rang. It was Jiwoo’s. Chaewon apparently. Nervously, they listened to Jiwoo’s side of the conversation. 

“Yeah, we’ve seen the news,” she said, “Yeah, probably... I don’t know... um, let me just ask.” Jiwoo turned to Haseul, “Chaewonnie wants to know if she, Yeojinnie, Yerimie and Jinsoul unnie should come to ours or stay put.”

Haseul thought about the conundrum aloud, “If this is what we think it is... then they probably won’t be safe there. Tell them to come here. Vivi unnie, can you call Heejin?”

“She’s already coming over with Hyunjin,” she announced with a shaky voice. 

Jiwoo told her friend down the phone to come to the apartment quickly. 

They continued to watch the scene unfold in eerie silence. Heejin and Hyunjin soon joined them. Heejin was dressed as if she was ready for war in a JYP branded leather outfit. 

The circular dark pit continued to grow. The reporters were panicking. The military had arrived. Behind the chatter of the press, the barking of orders and the clicking of guns could be heard. The pit grew so wide that a parked car fell down into the darkness. Haseul winced. It looked expensive. 

The pit stopped growing and there was silence. 

A horrible rumble was emitted from the TV screen. Suddenly the car flew out of the pit. The mangled vehicle smashed into a nearby building, showering the press and police below it with broken glass. The group watched helplessly as the car dropped to ground, the people beneath it scattering like mice. 

Out of the darkness, creatures of varying shapes and sizes began to crawl out of the pit. Some were small with countless limbs, some large and lumbering. Some were humanoid, some were barely blobs of matter. 

“Oh my god, what are they?” Hyunjin cried in horror. 

“Lesser demons, my friend,” Jungeun answered grimly, “Barely sentient and hell bent on destruction. Lesser demons are rarely seen on Earth. Too stupid to find their way here.”

Sooyoung’s grip on Jiwoo’s hand was tight that her knuckles turned white. Her face turned pale as snow, her shoulders tight. 

“He’s coming for us,” she whispered darkly. 

The footage live from the pit went dead. The TV showed the two news anchors, safe in their studio, in horrified silence. Someone passed them a document which they began to read. Citizens were to evacuate. If they couldn’t do that, they were to remain inside. The instructions were clear. Get out while you can or risk death. 

There was a tap at the window. 

Perched on the windowsill, her raven wings spread out behind her and her dark hair hiding her face. 

“Hyejoo?” asked Heejin, familiarity in her voice. Jiwoo looked furious, more angry than Haseul had ever seen her before. Sooyoung was frozen, her eyes even went a little foggy. 

Confused, Haseul stepped towards the window and opened it just enough that she could speak to the forsaken angel. 

“What the fuck do-“ 

“I’m not here to attack. I’ve been tasked with delivering a message,” Hyejoo interrupted as she shoved an envelope through the small gap in the window. 

“Why are you even working for him?” Haseul asked as the angel began to turn away. Her face was covered by her hair so they couldn’t see her expression. 

“The Odd Eyes may have made a deal bound by words. But mine was bound by blood. I can do nothing to stop this,” she sighed audibly and turned back to look at Haseul. Her cheek was bruised. “It will be easier if you comply. Less blood will be spilled.”

Of all the times for Chaewon to come bathing into Haseul’s flat. This surely had to be the worst. The tiny angel screamed Olivia Hye and raced towards the window. Hyejoo’s eyes widened and she immediately leapt off the windowsill, flying off into the sky. 

Chaewon pushed open the window fully and leant out of it shouting after the dark winged angel. 

Silently, Haseul pulled the tiny blonde away from the window and closed it behind her, avoiding Chaewon’s tiny fists. She gently guided her to the sofa bed and placed her next to Jiwoo. 

Poor Jiwoo. She had a shell-shocked girl who hadn’t moved an inch since seeing the news on one side and a betrayed girl who was having trouble processing her emotions on the other. She was stronger than everyone gave her credit for. 

“So... the letter? Shall we-“ Heejin began to ask before she was cut off by an angry angel. 

“I’ll open it,” Chaewon declared, opening the seal with such careless force that she cut her thumb. She whimpered and sucked on the paper cut, handing the letter to the angel beside her. 

“So when a demon stabs you, you barely flinch but you’re defeated by a fucking paper cut?” Haseul laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room. Chaewon shot the short-haired woman a poisonous look that sealed her mouth shut. 

Jiwoo read the letter aloud. 

“Greeting fuckwads,” she read slowly and carefully, “I have come to take what is mine. Miss Vianne Wong gave me her gift, and then took it from me. I will take it back. If she does not comply, I will destroy everything she loves and then kill her. You have a choice. Bring Vianne Wong to me before the end of the day and I will be merciful. Or I will come get her myself and destroy everything that stands in my way. Lots of love, the Bargainer. P.s. if you try to fight me, I will bring this entire city to the ground. Kisses.”

“Well giving him Vivi is completely out of the question,” Haseul piped up loudly. There was a mutter of agreement that resounded throughout the room. 

“Maybe we should just give him what he wants,” Vivi said slowly. “If he wants me, he should get me. I don’t want you guys to risk your life for me.”

“No!” Sooyoung cried suddenly. The room went silent. The fallen angel was pale as a sheet and gripping onto Jiwoo’s hand for dear life. Her eyes were dark and haunted. Her voice trembled as she spoke. “That monster doesn’t know the meaning of mercy. Even if we gave him Vivi unnie, he’d destroy us all anyway and wank over our dead bodies.”

“Sooyoung...” Jiwoo muttered under breath as she pressed her nose to the tall angel’s shoulder. Sooyoung simply looked out of the window. 

“Sooyoung unnie’s right,” Yerim spoke up. “The Bargainer isn’t your usual higher demon. Higher demons can usually be reasoned with. As part of the circle, we often prevented battles by approaching higher demons and solving problems diplomatically. The Bargainer doesn’t care about the politics of hell or about balance. He just wants to cause chaos.” The four, thin scars that marred her cheek seemed to almost gleam as she spoke. Perhaps speaking about her tormenter brought the listeners’ attention to the proof of her abuse. 

“In the circle, we used to call the Bargainer a Middler. A higher demon with the mindset of a lesser demon. Although, in my time he was obsessed with power. I suppose once he gained power, his bloodlust consumed him,” Jungeun mused, rubbing her chin. She smirked. “You know, one time he came to the circle to beg for our support. He was trying to start a mutiny in hell. I was tasked with the glorious pleasure of telling him the circle’s decision and even got to remove him from our realm.”

“Is that why he’s determined to kill you?” Haseul asked. Jungeun shrugged in reply. 

“Maybe,” the former grotesque shrugged casually. 

“Ugh, can we return back to the letter and the giant hell pit?” Heejin asked. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” it was Jiwoo who spoke. All traces of goofiness had left her usually sweet expression. Her eyes had hardened and her mouth was set with determination. “We fight.”

While hordes of people ran down the streets, away from the hell pit, the group ran in the opposite direction. They ignored the funny looks they recieved from the people around them. Haseul had to admit that they looked odd. Heejin was in a black leather JYP outfit. The rest of them, apart from the odd eyes, were wearing dark hoodies, heavy jeans and heavy boots. The odd eyes, however, Yerim and Jinsol, were wearing their old uniforms from the odd eye circle with hoodies over the top. Jungeun wore the same. They each carried a very impressive sword which made the seraphic dagger, which Chaewon had allowed Haseul to keep, look like a children’s toy. 

It turned out that Yerim and Jinsol had kept Jungeun’s armour, even when they believed her to be dead. They’d brought it with them, along with her ruby-hilted sword. Haseul had swooned when Jungeun came out of the bathroom wearing her armour. It was simple. It consisted of a padded leather breastplate, dark brown faulds and tassets with knee high, heavy boots and ornately decorated forearm guard. Her upper arms remained bare. Haseul couldn’t help but stare at the lean, defined muscles of her arms and swoon. But now was not the time for swooning. 

They headed towards 2jin’s house first and deposited Vivi there with Hyunjin and Sooyoung. The latter had desperately tried to convince them to let her join them, let her confront the Bargainer herself. Jiwoo had refused point blank. After all, Sooyoung had frozen when she saw Hyejoo, how would she cope fighting against her tormentor? For once in her life, Sooyoung actually listened to the spunky angel. 

The streets were empty when they left the almost deserted apartment complex. Yet, the sounds of gunshots resounding throughout the streets. 

As they got closer to the hell pit, the sounds of screams overwhelmed them. Horrible, painful screams. The screams of people suffering through the most awful pain anyone could experience. 

A man in an army uniform ran down the deserted street. At first Haseul thought that he was holding his injured arm in an odd way. She quickly realised that this man’s arm had been torn off. The mangled skin and broken bone dripped blood onto the road, leaving behind a bloody trail. His side had been torn into as well, flesh from his stomach had been ripped out. A bloody hole was where his ear should have been. 

Clouded eyes locked onto the group of women. 

“What are you doing? Get away! They’ll kill you! Not even bullets can stop all of them!” he cried. His voice was barely louder than a whisper, hoarse from screaming. He continued to run past them, probably hoping to find aid before he keeled over. 

Haseul stopped and sighed. 

“Well guys, I think this might be it. If anyone wants to back out, now’s your chance. It looks like we’re going to see horrors worse than anything we’ve ever seen before and there’s a chance we might not all make it out alive. But, if you’re willing, we’ve got to try. We have to stop the Bargainer. For Hyejoo,” she nodded at Chaewon, “For Sooyoung,” she nodded at Jiwoo. Haseul swallowed hardly, “And for Vivi. And for everyone else the Bargainer has manipulated and hurt.” A vision flickered in her mind’s eye. Jungeun with that same eyepatch, a javelin piercing her chest and impaling her own body as well, Jungeun spluttering blood. She swallowed down the bile in her mouth. “Ladies, I want you to know that I love each and every one of you. I love you more and more with every breath I take.”

Heejin hugged Haseul first. The rest of the group followed, embracing the pair tightly. It felt empowering. With her friends behind her, Haseul felt that she could take on anything. 

Haseul turned to her younger sister, “Yeojin, are absolutely sure?”

The tiny woman held a sword in her hand that was only slightly shorter than herself. How she would ever wield that thing, Haseul had no idea. Yeojin shot her a cocky half-smile. Her orange eye flashed. 

“Don’t worry, sis. I can handle myself,” she shrugged nonchalantly. Jinsol and Yerim came up behind her. They each put a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, all of their odd eyes lit up at once, engulfing Haseul in a bright light. A non-existent gust of wind blew back their hair dramatically. 

“Don’t worry, Haseul. We will take care of her. We can share our power, help those who need it more. Odd eye warriors are formidable for a reason,” Jinsol grinned. Yerim nodded brightly in response. Both Jinsol and Yerim thrust their swords out, hilt first, and smiled in Jungeun’s direction. The former odd eye frowned and shook her head. 

“My friends, I fear I am no longer one of you. I’ve lost my wings and my odd eye was ripped out by God before they cursed me. I’m sorry,” she apologised. Jinsol and Yerim did not budge. 

“Yet, you are still part of the circle, our circle,” Jinsol said with a goofy smile. Jungeun slung her sword over her back, stepped forwards and put her hands on Jinsol and Yerim’s wrist. 

Nothing happened at first. But suddenly, Jungeun threw her back and opened her mouth. A beam of red light escaped from her lips. Panting, Jungeun stepped away from the odd eyes and grinned. 

“I feel the connection again,” she whispered. 

Before Haseul could question her lover, she heard her name called. She whipped around and saw Park Jihyo racing towards her at an impressive speed. 

The woman was wearing the same outfit as Heejin, except she had a candy pink armband on her right arm. Where her hand used to be was a device which looked suspiciously like a laser gun. Beside the short but imposing woman was a fairly tall, very handsome young man. His eyes were sharp and clever like a cat. Strapped to his broad shoulders was a large broadsword. It looked like the same glassy material which Haseul’s seraphic dagger was made from. 

Behind this handsome man was the rest of the Twice girls. Each wore the same leather outfit with the candy pink armband. Both Tzuyu and Chaeyoung smiled and waved at the group. The tall cambion held twin daggers while shorter carried her trusty crossbow. Haseul barely recognised Pastor Kim in the fighting get up. The now blue haired woman held a large mace in her hands. Her other half-demon girlfriend possessed a matching one. The other three women clearly favoured guns as they each showed off guns of varying sizes. The only woman missing was Doctor Myoui. 

“Jo Haseul. I wish I could say that I’m surprised to see you again so soon,” Park Jihyo greeted with a friendly smile. She extended her hand for Haseul to shake, like an old friend. Startled, the short woman shook her former enemy’s hand. 

“I didn’t expect to see you guys here,” Haseul admitted. Jihyo shrugged casually. 

“Well, technically we’re on press clean-up duty. But what Park Jinyoung doesn’t know won’t kill him,” she chuckled. “We’re here to help you, Haseul.”

“I don’t understand. I kinda thought you hated me,” Haseul stammered. 

“Sedating someone does tend to give that impression,” Jungeun snarled, standing by Haseul’s side. Park Jihyo smiled a little bashfully. 

“I was wrong,” she admitted. She glanced at the women around her, “I think we all want to do something good for a change. Jo Haseul, we’re at your command.”

One by one, each of the Twice members raised their hands to their temples in a salute. 

A salute? They were saluting her? Little old Jo Haseul?

She turned in disbelief and saw her friends behind her mimicking the same pose. Even Jungeun raised her hand to her temple and winked her only eye. Although that could have just been a blink. 

Regardless, Haseul’s heart swelled with pride. She ignored the anxiety eating at her brain and addressed her small audience. 

“Thank you, ladies... and gent. Park Jihyo, can you and your group help keep the demons off us while we go for the hell pit. Heejin, can you handle Hyejoo if she attacks?” the part-demon nodded. “Cool. The rest of us will go for the Bargainer. I think it might take all of us to defeat him.” Haseul declared. 

With a final cry of encouragement, the group set off running towards the hell-pit. Each one of them prayed, regardless of whether they believed in God’s kindness and power or not. 

The scene at the hell-pit was worse than Haseul could have ever imagined. 

The stench was enough to make the sturdiest person retch. The sulphurous stink of rotten eggs consumed the air. On top that was layers of gunpowder, metallic blood and death. Haseul had smelled death before. But this was a whole other kettle of fish. 

Heejin actually threw up. It didn’t make the smell any better. The part-demon shook her horned head and wiped her mouth. 

They regarded the carnage for a few moments with slack jaws. Demons were swarming all over the place. The military surrounded them, shooting constantly into the horde. With each demon they knocked down, another crawled out of the hell pit. 

The press were nowhere to be seen. Haseul first assumed that they had run away. Then she spied the corpses of a whole crew pressed up against a wall. One had a boom mike sticking out of it’s chest. Another had no chest at all. Haseul thought she might cry. 

Then she spotted him. A man hovering above the centre of the hell-pit. He was pointing his hands in various directions and throwing his head back, probably in nefarious laughter. He had his back to them. 

“Now’s our chance,” Haseul had to speak loudly to be heard over the gunfire, human screams and monstrous shrieks. “Let’s go now, while we still have surprise on our side.”

The JYP women headed out first. They gunned down the demons in their way, not even flinching when stinking ichor splashed onto their faces. Haseul suddenly remembered that they were professionals. They slashed and hacked their way through the horde of demons, diligently fighting off any monster that crossed them. Behind them was a trail of bodies, and an open path. 

Haseul and her group followed quickly behind them. Haseul honestly felt a little silly holding only a dagger. That was until a demon leapt onto her chest. Instinctively, she thrust the seraphic knife into her assailant’s chest. She felt an all too familiar pulse of power lurch from her heart and through her arm. The demon combusted. Ash settled on Haseul’s chest. Jungeun sliced an approaching demon in half and dragged Haseul to her feet with an approving nod. 

Energy coursing through her veins, Haseul powered on, leading her friends closer towards the hell-pit. 

The women in front of them seemed to slow, the ever increasing horde slowing their progress. 

“Keep fighting!” Haseul screamed as she stuck her dagger in the head of an approaching demon. Like the other, it burst into flames. 

While fighting off her own onslaught of monsters, Haseul tried to keep an eye on the rest of her friends. Heejin tossed a nasty looking spiney creature away with her horns and simultaneously pierced another. Chaewon and Jiwoo worked as a dynamic duo. One kicked a demon out of the way while the other hacked and slashed, protecting her back. The odd eyes were magnificent. Their swords carved up the monsters with elegant ease. Their eyes were cold. Not a single bead of sweat lined their foreheads. They truly were warriors. Even Yeojin was holding her own. She (somehow) swung her massive sword with one hand and shot out small but impactful bursts of flames from her palm. 

Blinded by pride, Haseul let a demon with foot long fangs tears into her side with it’s scissor like hands. Haseul ripped it away from her and struck it in the stomach with her boot-clad foot. The demon slid backwards in the remains of its brethren and howled. Haseul looked up just in time to see another creature in the air, heading straight for her head. 

Suddenly, the creature dropped to floor. It’s head exploded before it even hit the ground. It’s body imploded next. Haseul glanced upwards to the nearby building and spotted a flash of yellow, black and candy pink in one of the windows. Dr Myoui. She returned to the field. Good for her. 

Haseul didn’t have time to muse, she leapt towards Jungeun and thrust her dagger into the slug-like monster which had attached itself to her back. It exploded into a pile of ash. Seeing Jungeun’s sexy triceps flex, Haseul ducked. Jungeun swung her mighty sword and decapitated the monster which had attempted to sneak up on them. 

“Haseul, at this rate we’ll never make it to the centre, there’s too many of them,” Jungeun shouted over the clamour. 

“I know, but what else can we do? We’re too far in to retreat! We have to keep going,” Haseul cried back. Jungeun hesitated, but nodded. 

She didn’t get a chance to respond. Demons wouldn’t wait for you to finish a conversation before they attacked. They weren’t civil. They didn’t know reason. They only knew bloodlust and violence. And that’s why Haseul shoved her ichor covered dagger into the belly of another beast and watched it burst into flames. Thank fuck for Chaewon’s dagger. 

They made little progress heading towards the hell-pit. Haseul could feel herself tire. Her torn stomach was raw with pain. Her arms ached. Her head was pounding in rhythm with the energy that continued to pulse through her. She was sweating. Fucking hell, she didn’t know the last time she sweated so damn much. Regardless, she pushed through the aches and pains, even though her fight was seeming more and more fruitless with each demonic being she slaughtered. The Twice women had been lost in the crowd of monsters. Haseul hoped they weren’t dead. 

Suddenly, a few demons ahead of her, a purple, swirling vortex appeared. Haseul tried to watch the swirling vortex while still slashing at the creatures surrounding her. 

A ginormous wolf burst through the portal. A sword was strapped to its side and two familiar women rode on its back. Another woman with striking wings flew out of the portal, two others followed. The portal closed behind them. 

They spotted Haseul immediately and, with cocky grins, formed a circle around her with just enough space for a purple-haired woman to stand right in front of Haseul. 

“Hello, Jo Haseul, I wish I could say it was a pleasure to see you again. Given the circumstances...” she trailed off with a grimace. 

“I get it. Nice to see you alive, Jiu,” Haseul remarked, glancing at the part of her stomach which she had witnessed a sword burst through. The woman smirked. 

“Jo Haseul, we are here to fight by your side,” she said sincerely. 

“Thanks, but there’s so many of them. Even with your power, I think you guys might not be able to help us,” Haseul cried. Jiu raised a delicate eyebrow. 

“Perhaps we can assist in another way. With your permission, we can transport you to another place, an empty place. Only those within our bounds will be transported. It will remove you from the hell pit, but ensure you are able to assault your enemy. We can handle the remaining demons,” she offered. 

“Unnie, we can’t do that without...” the tall woman, Yoohyeon, whined. Jiu smirked. 

“Handong’s a smart woman. She’ll find us,” she said mysteriously. “Jo Haseul, will you allow us to help you?” Haseul nodded dumbly. “Excellent. Ensure your people are within our bounds.”

The protective circle dispersed rapidly. The winged woman flew overhead to other side of the hell-pit. The wolf effortlessly hurtled through the hordes of demons, the warrior on her back threw off any lingering creatures. Jiu winked and disappeared into thin air. The remaining two warriors of the Dream Realm disappeared into the crowd. 

“Everyone! To me! Come to me!” Haseul shouted over the shrieks and screams. “Come close to me!”

She saw Jungeun grip Yeojin’s wrist and pull her over to Haseul’s side. Heejin leapt over her attackers, pulling Chaewon and Jiwoo along with her. The remaining odd eye warriors appeared mysteriously by Haseul’s side. 

Banded closely together, they continued to fight off demons that continued to attack them. They refused to be torn apart. 

From the opposite side of the hell-pit, a purple beam of light burst upwards into the sky. Another beam burst upwards. Behind Haseul, another followed. In a regular arrangement, three more purple columns burst out from the horde. Haseul stared at where the space where a seventh should be. 

Time seemed to slow. She waited a seemingly infinite amount of time with baited breath for a purple beam that wouldn’t come. 

She was wrong. It did come. 

The triumphant beam burst proudly into the sky. The beams arched and collided directly above the centre of the hell-pit. They heard the Bargainer shout. She prayed he didn’t go back into the hell-pit. The beams began to swirl faster and faster until a vortex was created above. 

When the vortex disappeared, Haseul was met with a different scene. Gone were the gunshots and building filled sky. They were instead replaced by distant trees and the distant roaring of a river. 

The hell-pit was gone. But the demons, and the Bargainer remained. 

Sooyoung was wearing a hole into Hyunjin’s carpet with her constant pacing. The news feed had cut out not long after they arrived in Hyunjin’s apartment. They had had the pleasure of watching a demon leap onto the camera and knock it onto the ground. The network hadn’t cut away from the scene soon enough. They’d witnessed the disembowelment of a very unlucky crew member. 

Sooyoung took to nervously sharpening Hyunjin’s kitchen knives and arranging them on the ground in front of her over and over again. 

“Fucking hell, can you just sit still?” Hyunjin finally cried. 

The fallen angel stopped what she was doing and folded her arms with a pout. 

“No I can not just fucking sit still,” Sooyoung replied childishly. “Those demons could be ripping my Ji... er, I mean, our friends apart and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Exactly! There’s nothing we can do. If we just sit here and worry, we’ll all go insane!” Hyunjin exclaimed. 

Sooyoung huffed and sat on the floor. She remained hunched in silence for a few moments but soon leapt back to her feet. 

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing! I have to do something! What if...” she trailed off and zoned off. The angel shook her head, as if she was shaking out the intrusive thoughts. “Fuck, they should have let me go with them. I’m a valuable warrior, I can fight off a bunch of fucking demons.”

“Can you?” Hyunjin challenged her, “Because when you saw that flying girl up at the window you blanked out completely. Come on, you’d be a burden if you went with them.”

Furious, Sooyoung pointed at the cat-like human accusingly, “You’d be a burden!” she yelled immaturely. Hyunjin held her hands up. 

“I know and that’s why we’re here and not fighting with them,” Hyunjin said softly. Sooyoung’s upper lip curled upwards. 

“Speak for yourself,” she growled. She picked up a kitchen knife and began to stalk towards the door. 

Hyunjin rushed in front of the exit in a panic. 

“Sooyoung, you can’t go out, you’ll get yourself killed,” she cried. 

“Get out of my way, you stupid human,” the fallen angel spat. 

“Please, Sooyoung,”

“If you don’t move, I’ll stab you! I’ll fucking stab you,” Sooyoung shouted, waving the chef’s knife in front of her. Hyunjin eyed the blade warily. She gulped nervously, but held her ground, meeting the angel’s eyes defiantly. Roaring, Sooyoung launched her weapon towards the ground. It buried itself hilt-deep in the carpeted floor. 

“Why won’t you fucking move?” Sooyoung roared. “Why won’t you let me help?”

Hyunjin didn’t respond. The fallen angel dropped the knife, gripped her head and shook it violently. 

“I can’t do anything! I can’t protect her. I promised myself that I’d never hurt her and everything I’ve done has put her in more danger. I hurt her when I fell. She fell because of me. She can never go back because of me. And now she’s fighting a fucking psychopathic demon and it’ll probably kill her and it’s all my fucking fault!” Sooyoung cried out and sank to her knees. “It’s all my fault and there’s nothing I can do.”

Hyunjin knelt beside they angel she barely knew and patted her arm awkwardly. 

“Hey, it’s not your fault that a demon is attacking us. That’s Vivi unnie’s fault,”

“Thanks, Hyunjin,” Vivi snorted. The Cantonese woman had previously been completely silent, lost in her own thoughts. She stood up slowly. “And you’re wrong, Sooyoung. There’s something we can do.” She sighed heavily, staring at her hands. “Hyunjin, does Heejin still have her art supplies?” 

The dark-haired human nodded. 

“Excellent, bring them to me.”

The battle did not end with the sudden change of scenery, but the infinite swarm of demons was suddenly significantly more manageable. 

Against the combined power of the Twice agents and the mighty warriors of the Dream Realm, the horde of demons stood no chance. With every blow, a demon was defeated. And without the hell-pit present, there was no source of new demons. 

Haseul grabbed onto Jungeun’s hand and pulled her in the direction of the Bargainer. She was aware that they had lost the element of surprise, but she hoped they were still enough to take him on. 

The Bargainer had their back them when they reached him. He stood alone. His horde was focussed on Twice and the rulers of the Dream Realm, aiming to protect their brethren, or perhaps searching for a tasty, muscular snack. He was wearing a jet black suit with a royal red cloak. 

He turned slowly and clapped. A menacing grin crept onto his face. 

“I am so glad you chose the hard way. It’s so much more fun this way. I am so looking forwards to tearing each and every one of you limb from limb,” he giggled. His red eyes burned into Haseul’s skin. “You. Miss Wong’s precious little girlfriend. The one she loves the most. Where is Miss Wong?”

“Did you really think we’re stupid enough to bring her with us into battle?” Haseul scoffed. The Bargainer raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes,” he answered honestly. He sighed. “No matter. It will be more fun to watch her reaction when I deliver her your heads on a silver platter. Not gold though, you aren’t worthy enough to warrant a gold platter.”

“You won’t defeat us without a fight!” Haseul cried. The Bargainer grinned sadistically. 

“I’m counting on it,” he growled. 

Dramatically, he ripped off his cloak. He swirled his hand and a long sword appeared in his sinewy grasp. With a yelp, he leapt into the sky, aiming directly at Haseul’s head. 

The short-haired woman felt a hand push against her chest and she fell to the ground. She looked upwards and watched as Jungeun deflected the demon’s blows and attempted to strike him back. The Bargainer was clearly a talented swordsman. He knocked the heavy sword out of the former grotesque’s grip and kicked her onto the ground. 

Laughing, the Bargainer dodged the swinging blades of Jinsol and Yerim. In one quick move, he grabbed both of their wrists in one large hand and watched as they both collapsed to the ground. 

“I think you forget, little odd eyes. While our deal is unbroken, your power belongs to me,” he growled. Yerim screamed. 

A ball of fire collided against the Bargainer’s back, burning his pretty suit. Growling, he turned to face his assailant, a tiny odd eye. 

“Stupid bitch,” he spat. 

The Bargainer was suddenly struck by Heejin’s fist. She slammed him to the ground and struck his face repeatedly with her fists. The demon thrust her off his chest and sent her flying backwards. However, Heejin caught herself in the air and dove back down towards the demon, her jaw set with determination. 

Haseul scrambled to her feet and joined her friends, rushing at the higher demon with her blade. 

The Bargainer’s fighting skills were impeccable. No matter how many people he was fighting, he could fight them all off with ease. No weapon left a scratch on him. The only time he growled in pain was when he was struck on his head. That must have been his weak spot. And yet, only Haseul’s seraphic blade left any permanent marks on his body. 

They managed to disarm him with an immense struggle, but it was pointless. The Bargainer simple growled and stretched out his hands. The fingers morphed into gnarled claws. 

Haseul began to tire, as did her friends. Their blows were getting weaker, their movements more sluggish. The Bargainer laughed as he took advantage of this. With his terrible claws, he slashed at Jiwoo; blood spurted out of her chest. A strike to Haseul’s nose sent her flying backwards. He’d broken it. And only a week after it was previously broken. But Haseul wasn’t in any shape to mourn her lovely nose. 

When Haseul looked back up, the Bargainer had the upper hand. Jinsol and Yerim still writhed on the ground. Chaewon was by Jiwoo’s side, pressing scraps of her ripped up hoodie onto her friend’s chest. 

The Bargainer grabbed onto one of Heejin‘s wings. There was a sickening crack, and the part-demon collapsed to the ground, trying to grab her injured wing while screaming in agony. Haseul tried to ignore the pounding in her face and stomach but it was almost too much to bear. 

Only Jungeun and Yeojin were still on their feet. 

Scratch that, only Jungeun was still fighting. The Bargainer launched the tiny girl across the battlefield as if she was a toy. 

The Bargainer grinned menacingly at Jungeun. 

“Oh, how I’ve looked forwards to this very moment. You... Kim Lip... you are the reason the circle defied me. And look at them now. Dead and gone. Just like you’ll soon be,” he taunted as he blocked Jungeun’s attacks. “I like the eyepatch by the way. It looks stupid, just like you.”

He raised his clawed hand and raked it across Jungeun’s arm. She roared in pain, but refused to drop her sword. 

He raised his claws again, but the expected strike never came. 

Suddenly, the demon’s arms were bound to his waist and his legs snapped shut. His claws morphed back into delicate fingers. Impervious chains appeared around his body and he sunk to his knees in furious defeat. 

“Vivi,” Haseul breathed with a half-smile. 

The demon writhed against his restraints to no avail. Abruptly, he stopped struggling and grinned. 

“Did you lot really think I’d come alone?” he chuckled. He whistled and a black winged woman, a beautiful angel of fury, flew to his side, landing softly on the ground. “Hyejoo, finish them,” he commanded. 

The angel hesitated. Her eyes fell onto the blonde angel who was tending to her friend’s wounds. Chaewon looked up at angel with large, sad eyes. 

“Olivia, you don’t have to do what he says,” she cried. The black winged angel looked conflicted. The Bargainer, however, scoffed. 

“Yes, you fucking do. And unless your fucking precious brat is harmed, you have to do everything I say. And I order you to kill them!” he screamed. Hyejoo still didn’t move. 

Chaewon gasped. 

“Wait, did you the deal will be broken if I’m injured?” the blonde asked. 

Rolling his red eyes, the demon replied snarkily, “Well, if your name is Gowon then sure, if you are harmed by me or one of demons then yes, she’s free. Why am I telling you this? Ugh, you are all absolutely awful.”

She leapt to her feet and ran up to the chained demon. She presented her finger to him. 

“I have a paper cut!” she declared. Everyone simply stared at the blonde, baffled. 

“Does it look like I give a shit?”

“I have a paper cut! And I got it from the letter you sent me! You say Olivia only had to what I say as long as I am unharmed? Well, I am harmed!” she cried triumphantly, “Also, one of your demons stabbed me in the shoulder, so...”

Hyejoo gasped loudly. 

“I’m free,” she whispered. 

The Bargainer’s eyes widened, the colour turned from scarlet to burgundy. He began to writhe against his restraints, fangs growing over his lip. When he spoke, his voice deepened and became louder. It sounded as if many people were speaking at once when he opened his mouth. 

“You are not free!” he screamed, “You will never be free! Do you really think they’ll take you back after what you did to them? Why are even considering this? They abandoned you! They don’t care about you! I care about you, little Hyejoo. I can take care of you. I can give you all the power you want. I can give you more power than you ever dreamed of!”

Hyejoo walked towards the Bargainer, her sword dragged against the ground. The scraping sound made Haseul cover her ears. The black winged angel stopped and stared down at the Bargainer. She smirked. 

“It’s nice to see you on your knees for a change,” she said darkly. The demon was speechless for a silent moment, then his thrashing against his restraints intensified. 

“I can give you everything you ever dreamed of! Money! Power! Everything! You can rule by my side as my equal! Didn’t I give you your revenge? Didn’t you see her suffer and smile? Didn’t you?” the Bargainer’s screamed desperately. Hyejoo lifted her sword and rested it on her strong shoulders. “Do you want me to kill her? I can do that. Whatever you want I’ll give you twice that. Whatever you dreamed of, I can give you.”

“No you can’t,” Hyejoo said. Her voice was deep and lowered to a whisper that Haseul had to strain to hear. “I’ve only ever dreamt of one thing.”

“Tell me! I’ll give it to you!”

“No, you can’t. You can’t make her love me,” Hyejoo revealed darkly. With that, she lifted her sword and swung. 

The Bargainer’s head toppled to the ground. 

A clanging sound rang in Haseul’s ears. The demon’s body dissipated and the chains which bound it fell to the ground. The demon’s decapitated head also disappeared. 

Haseul stood to her feet, panting heavily. 

“Is he dead? Is it over?” she asked innocently. 

As she spoke, she noticed that one by one, the demon’s which had once climbed out of the hell-pit turned to smoke. 

“The weapon is not heavenly, he will come back,” the black winged angel said quietly. 

Haseul nodded. 

The short woman rushed over to Heejin, who was crying and screaming on the ground. When she reached her friend, she was that her left wing had been snapped. The bone poked out, dripping black ichor onto the ground. Jungeun was soon by Haseul’s side. 

“We have to reset the bone,” she said, already reaching out to touch Heejin’s wing. The part-demon whimpered when she touched it. 

While Haseul sat with her friend, giving her a hand to squeeze while her wing was fixed, Haseul surveyed her surroundings. 

The warriors of the Dream Realm and JYP’s agents seemed to be introducing themselves to one another while they walked towards Haseul’s group. Jinsol and Yerim were back on their feet, hugging each other and Yeojin, congratulations the little firecracker. Chaewon had returned to Jiwoo’s side, tending to the deep scratches on her stomach. 

Hyejoo was stood alone staring at the shackles which once container the Bargainer. She dropped the sword and stood wordlessly. 

A single tear dropped down her cheek. 

The black winged angel walked towards Chaewon slowly. 

“Can I help?” Haseul heard her say. 

“I think you’ve done enough, don’t you?” Chaewon spat in return. Hyejoo nervously fiddled with her shirt. 

“I just want to say, I’m sorry. For everything. I’m sorry, Gowon. And I’m sorry, Chuu. I ruined everything,” she said, her voice shaking. 

“Thank you for the apology, but I don’t really want to speak to you right now,” the blonde retorted, turning her back on Hyejoo. The dark haired angel sighed. Chaewon said softly, “I loved you, Olivia. I really did.”

“Okay, I get it. Past tense. I wish I realised sooner,” she said tersely. The forsaken angel turned on her heel and walked back towards the pile of chains. 

She remained stood there for a moments. She looked around with a child-like expression. Haseul thought she looked lost. She probably was. Suddenly, she sunk to her knees and put her face in her hands. She was crying. She was crying for everything she had lost, her friends, her loved ones, her place in heaven, her purpose. 

It hurt Haseul’s heart to watch her. After everything she’d done, she wasn’t sure that she truly deserved remorse. However, everyone does bad things. Haseul, herself, had done things she regretted. And when she was in her darkest moments, she always had someone to help her. Perhaps that’s what Hyejoo needed. A friend, someone to guide her. 

“Will you guys be okay without me? I’m going to see if she’s okay,” Haseul said to Heejin and Jungeun. Red tears streaming down her face, Heejin nodded. Jungeun seemed hesitant, but she also nodded tensely. 

Haseul stood and began to walk over to the fallen angel, a pleasant smile on her face. Hyejoo glanced up and saw. She looked confused, afraid even. She hunched her shoulders and looked down, her wings drooped behind her. 

Abruptly, Hyejoo’s head snapped up and she looked to one side. Her eyes widened in fear and her hand reached out to grasp at the sword by her side. What she looking at?

“Haseul, no!” someone cried her name. 

Haseul glanced in the same direction as Hyejoo. Stood on the grass was the Bargainer, his head was in his arm, a smile split his face. The golden tip of a javelin was heading directly towards her. 

The scene was all too familiar. The image of Jungeun’s dying face flashed in her mind. 

Time slowed down. The javelin headed towards her. Jungeun was stepping in front of her. A split decision was made. She wouldn’t allow the both of them to die. 

Haseul shoved her lover out of the way and ran forwards, leaping directly into the path of the javelin. 

It struck her in the chest. She felt it pass through, coming out of the other end. She cried out. The momentum of the javelin forced her backwards. She came crashing to the ground. Gravity took over. Haseul gurgled as her body slid down the javelin. 

She grasped the bloody handle which stuck out of her chest. 

“Haseul, wait!” someone shouted. She didn’t listen to them and pulled the golden weapon out of her chest. She cried in pain as she did. She could feel the life leaking out of her chest. 

Nefarious laughter filled her ears. Someone shouted that the Bargainer had disappeared. Someone was attempting to call a hospital. 

Haseul’s vision was darkening. 

Jungeun’s face appeared in front of her. 

“Hey, babe,” she said with great effort. Was Jungeun crying? She thought she was. 

Jungeun was speaking to her. She couldn’t hear what she was saying. All she could hear was ringing. Haseul tried to tell her but it was getting harder and harder to talk. She had to tell her something important. What was it? Her mind was becoming cloudy. As was her vision. Haseul focussed on Jungeun’s face. She really was beautiful. 

“I love you,” that’s what she wanted to say. So she said it, or at least tried to. 

She couldn’t see Jungeun anymore. She couldn’t see anything anymore. She felt something rest on her chest. She felt something press against her wound. It hurt. But the pain was fading. Everything was fading. 

The last thing she felt was a hand gripping onto her own. And then darkness took over. 

Until it didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of y’all @ me, as a gentle reminder, this isn’t the end of the fic. There is more to come. Please don’t panic. I will try to update as quickly as possible because cliff hangers are the worst to read (but so fun to write hehe)


	30. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This chapter took ages but, like, nothing happens. I’ll try to be faster with the next chapter, but no promises haha.
> 
> I hope y’all enjoy. We’re heading towards the end now so I’m trying to wrap up some plot lines and character arcs without being too hasty.
> 
> Let me know what y’all think.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos. BLM

Everything was black. Haseul wondered to herself, is this death? Is death simply eternal blackness? Would she see, hear and feel nothing for all eternity? What a miserable way to live. Or rather die. 

Everything was black. Until it wasn’t. 

A bright light engulfed her vision. She focussed on the direction which it came from, the source of the light. Something, or rather someone, was heading towards her. 

As they got closer, she could see what it was more clearly. It seemed to be egg shaped and covered with gleaming, golden feathers. Bright, silver and golden light peeled out from between the feathers. It was bright enough to illuminate the empty space around Haseul. 

She looked down at herself. She looked at her hands, looked at the callouses which had begun to form from her rigorous training. She looked at the bruises and scratches which marred her arms. She looked down at her chest and saw the red stain which marked her hoodie. When she unzipped the hoodie, she could see the hole in her chest. If she could angle her head right, she would probably be able to see all the way through herself to the darkness on the other side. 

Haseul looked back at the egg shaped thing before her. 

She soon realised that it wasn’t a giant, feathered egg at all. It was in fact an angel. It had three sets of wings. One was folded over their face, one wrapped around their chest and the other hid their feet. 

Two of the pairs of golden wings opened. Haseul winced and braced herself. The brightness of the light was momentarily unbearable, but she soon adjusted. It was the skin of the angel which was glowing. It would be impossible to guess the angel’s skin colour, for his skin glowed intensely with gold and silver. Haseul supposed that when Olivia Hye was in heaven, and the angels from her visions, their skin did glow with a faint silver and gold light. Their faint glow was dim and insignificant compared to this all consuming light. 

The angel was male. He was tall, probably almost seven feet tall, and wore a white robe. His wings were hugely impressive and glittered in his own light. His eyes were like molten gold. Their colour shifted slightly as he tilted his head. His third pair of wings remained flopping around his feet. There was something about their diminished form which reminded Haseul of Jiwoo’s withered wings, her wings had withered with love. She couldn’t help but wonder if this angel had experienced the same feeling. 

“Am I dead?” Haseul blurted. The angel’s face remained emotionless. 

“Not quite. You should be,” he said. His lips did not move, yet his voice boomed within Haseul’s ears. 

“Oh, then where am I?” Haseul asked. 

“Nowhere, and yet you are everywhere,” he told her, his lips still did not move. 

“I don’t understand,” 

“It is natural to not understand,”

“Right,” Haseul drawled, “Well, who are you and why am I here? Why aren’t I completely dead?”

The angel’s lips twitched. The colour of his eyes lightened from burnt gold to light, new gold. Haseul assumed that was a sign of amusement. 

“You ask a lot of questions, child. I cannot answer them all. It is forbidden,” his voice resounded in Haseul’s head. She heard a laugh. It was strange. It was like she heard the crackle of an old man and the delighted giggle of a baby at the same time. “I am almost disappointed. I would have thought that my own daughter would have recognised me.”

“You? You’re my dad?”

The angel bowed deeply, “My name is Jehoel. I am one of the Lord’s seraphim. We are each blessed with the gift of purifying fire. Our flames can purge the sin from the darkest of sinners. It is my duty to look after our flames. I believe, my dear child, that you take after myself in that respect.”

“You’re a seraphim? I- I am so confused,” Haseul moaned. 

“I understand child, you are just as human as you are seraphim. This will be difficult for you to comprehend,” the angel told her. 

“How did you meet my mother? Like, how did that happen?”

“On a mission to Earth to search for a terrible demon whose powers needed purging, I was captured by a human organisation. I could not escape without harming good humans, and that would have made me forsaken. Your mother looked after me. I fell in love with her, and paid the price,” his eyes darkened to a dull bronze. He glanced down at his feet, where broken wings flopped beneath him. 

“You really did love her, huh?”

“I did. But it is forbidden. Your mother freed me and we... we spent time together before I returned to my rightful place beside the Lord. I was lucky to have been saved. I should have fallen for my sin,” Jehoel admitted. He placed his hands in front of him and turned the palms upwards. 

“Haseul, my child, you are been granted a second chance. Your purpose has not been fulfilled and for that, the heavens have decided to give you your life back,”

“Oh, that’s cool. So what’s my purpose?” Haseul asked. 

The angel’s eyes lightened to their original gold, but they were now speckled with orange. 

“Haseul, you have a great choice. You may save yourself and your friends from the demon known as the Bargainer by slaying him and purging the Earth of his sin. However, by slaying him, you risk the chance of being pursued by his demonic allies until you die. You have another choice. If you thrust a sword forged directly from the fires of the seraphim into the heart of hell, you may destroy all of hell, and demon kind, in it’s entirety.”

“That seems like an easy decision, I guess. Just destroy hell and all this ends! If you want someone to destroy hell so bad, why not send an angel to do it?” Haseul mused. Her angelic father bowed his head. 

“An angel who enters hell can no longer enter heaven. And forsaken angels are forbidden from carrying the weapons of their kind,” Jehoel revealed. “Although, some angels think destroying hell is a necessary evil.”

“You don’t?”

“I believe in balance. Where there is light, there must be dark. Where there is joy, there must be sorrow. And where there is heaven, there must be hell. Otherwise the order of the world is unbalanced and the realms may fall off kilter,”

“So destroying hell is bad?”

“It is unclear. It may save the realms. The heavens are not blind. We are aware that the corruption of hell is spreading faster than ever and a war is becoming increasingly likely. However, it may be the realms’ undoing,”

“Is it worth the risk?” Haseul asked. The angel was quiet for a moment. 

“That is your decision, Jo Haseul,” he told her, his words ringing between her ears. 

“But how can I do it? I don’t have a weapon forged from the fires of the seraphim!” Haseul cried. 

A sword appeared, it rested lightly on the seraph’s open palms. His eyes shone like new, metallic gold. 

“You may borrow mine,” Jehoel announced. The voice which spoke in Haseul’s head was proud. 

Haseul took the blade from his hands, but didn’t get the chance to inspect it. 

“I must leave you now, my child. And you must return to your loved ones. I approve of her, by the way. She is noble and good,” the angel announced. 

“Er thanks, I guess. But I have so many more questions!” Haseul protested. Her father bowed his head, his long silver locks spread out behind him. 

“I wish I could spend more time with you, but I fear I have spent too much time and revealed too much already. I must send you back to the mortal realm,” the angel said as he glided closer to Haseul. 

Slowly, he placed his hand above the hole in Haseul’s chest. He closed his eyes. When he reopened them, they were burning silver and a golden flame burst from him palm. Haseul could feel the energy seep into her. She felt her mind fade from this unknown realm and slowly, she felt her body return to her. She looked at her father’s face and noticed he was smiling proudly. 

He opened his mouth and words came out. He spoke in a language she had never heard, but Haseul understood his words. 

“My daughter, I love you and I will be proud of you, regardless of your decision.”

Haseul felt her heart beat once more and her consciousness returned to her body. 

Haseul’s eyes fluttered open as she slowly regained feeling in her entire body. She was aware that she was being carried close to someone’s chest. Strong arms supported her back and knees, holding her close against a leather chest plate. She knew who carrying her the moment she became capable of sentient thought. She recognised the intoxicating scent. Now, how should she alert Jungeun to tell her that she isn’t dead?

Haseul lifted her head to look at her lover. Jungeun was looking straight ahead, tears streamed down her cheek. Jungeun looked down for half a second to catch a glimpse of Haseul. She stopped walking and looked down again. Her one eye locked with Haseul’s own in disbelief. 

“Hi,” said Haseul. Jungeun screamed in terror. Haseul felt the strong arms surrounding her let her go and she collided against the ground with a thud. 

Rubbing her head, Haseul sat up. She pouted. 

“That was really mean, you know. You could have at least lowered me carefully,” Haseul berated her lover teasingly. Jungeun stared down at Haseul with a gaping jaw. 

“I watched you die,” she said breathlessly. 

“Well, I’m alive. Surprise?” 

Jungeun stared silently at Haseul for a few more long moments. The next thing Haseul knew, Jungeun was on top of her, hugging her body as close as she could. Jungeun presses feverish kisses all over Haseul’s face, making her laugh, and then she kissed her lips. The kiss was hard and a little forceful, full of desperate passion. It didn’t last very long. Jungeun pulled away and rested her forehead against Haseul’s. 

“I thought I lost you. Please don’t do that again,” she whispered tenderly. Haseul grinned. 

“I’m here, Jungeun. I’m here, I’m with you. And I definitely don’t intend on dying again any time soon,” she joked. 

“Er... Jungeun? What are you doing?” Haseul heard Jiwoo’s voice. It was loud as usual, but lacked her usual tenacious brightness. 

Jungeun sat back, leaving Haseul directly in the eyesight of the former angel. Jiwoo stared blankly. Haseul waved at her awkwardly with a shy smile. Jiwoo squealed and rushed towards Haseul. She leapt on her and hugged her tightly, squealing loudly. Both women pulled away from each other grasping their wounds, Jiwoo grasped her stomach and Haseul her chest. Haseul assumed the hole in her chest was still fixing itself. 

“You’re alive? But how?” Jiwoo exclaimed, crying with joy. Haseul rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. 

“Uh, I don’t really know to be honest. I met an angel, my father actually, and he told me that the heavens had decided to give me my life back, or something like that. Trust me, I’m just as confused as you are,” Haseul chuckled awkwardly. Jiwoo grinned cheekily. 

“So you met your real dad, huh? Who is he?” the cheery angel asked. 

“Some dude called Jehoel. He had like, three, pairs of-“

“Jehoel!” both Jungeun and Jiwoo cried in unison. The women glanced at each other in disbelief. 

Jiwoo spoke again, “Haseul unnie, Jehoel is one of the most powerful seraphim in the heavens. He is the protector of the purifying fires of the seraphim. He is the stuff of the legends.”

“Even his sword is famous,” Jungeun said breathlessly, “Taher.”

“Taher,” Haseul repeated under her breath. She felt something solid in her hand. A smirk appeared on her face. “Oh, I don’t suppose you mean this famous sword!” She lifted the famous weapon and waved it in Jiwoo’s face. The poor angel looked as if she might pass out. 

Haseul finally got a good look at the sword. It’s hilt was made of gold, the handle designed to be held by two massive hands. Haseul’s small hands looked like baby hands in comparison to the long handle. The hilt itself was plain, no jewels or inscriptions adorned it. The blade, however, was beautiful. The sword’s blade was very long and quite wide. At the hilt, it’s width was comparable to Haseul’s hand. It was less wide at the top of the blade, the tip was rounded. Deceptively, the tip looked as if it was blunt. Haseul had a feeling that it would be the complete opposite. The blade itself appeared to made of a number of flames, flames of gold, silver and red, which had intertwined and solidified into an internally burning inferno on a stick. 

“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Jungeun breathed, reaching out to run her finger along the top of the smooth blade. She removed her finger sheepishly. “Other than you, Haseul.”

“Are you kidding? This sword is genuinely prettier than everyone and everything in existence. It’s prettier than you, and myself, and Sooyoung, and literally everyone,” Jiwoo practically shouted. 

“It’s not prettier than me,” the snarky comment was said in a tiny, crunchy voice. Haseul looked up and beamed at Chaewon’s cold expression. The blonde’s eyes softened and she smiled shyly. “Hi, Haseul unnie. I’m glad you’re alive.”

Haseul stood up on shaky legs and hugged the small angel, whether she wanted to be hugged or not. Chaewon resisted first a brief moment, but soon hugged the nephilim back equally as tightly. 

“Ay, yo! Everyone! Haseul’s alive!” Jiwoo yelled at the top of her lungs. 

Everyone around them turned and looked at Haseul. They were still in the middle of the random field. The Twice members had banded together and were allowing Dr Myoui tmo tend to each of their wounds. The warriors of the Dream Realm had been quietly conversing with each other, their heads close together. Those women all turned their heads simultaneously to stare at Haseul, and her new sword. Hyejoo was stood by herself in the middle of the field. Even she beamed when she saw Haseul on her feet. Jinsol and Yerim had one of Heejin’s arms on their shoulder, they were supporting her as she attempted to walk for herself. The odd eyes nearly dropped the part-demon when they saw Haseul. 

Out of nowhere, a body collided into Haseul’s. She stumbled backwards, but person who collided into her held her up as she hugged her waist tightly. 

“Unnie! I’m so glad you’re alive!” Yeojin whimpered into Haseul’s shoulder. Instinctively, the older woman stroked her sister’s blonde hair with a sisterly smile. 

“Of course, I’m alive. I wasn’t going to leave you alone, was I? Who knows what trouble you’d get into without me around?” Haseul teased. Yeojin narrowed her eyes. 

“I’ve done just fine without you, unnie,” she announced proudly. A cheeky grin filled her face, “So do you have a gnarly scar?”

Thanks to the warriors of the Dream Realm, the journey back to Heejin and Hyunjin’s apartment was very short. They simply teleported them, and the JYP agents, to the building and then, as quickly as they’d appeared, disappeared through a swirling portal. The Twice agents said their goodbyes quickly, indicating that their boss was trying to contact them. 

When they entered the apartment, the scent of baking and chocolate filled Haseul’s nostrils. Hyunjin was watching the news on the sofa while Vivi was cleaning up the kitchen. Sooyoung was nowhere to be seen. 

As soon as the group entered the apartment, Hyunjin leapt off the couch and rushed to her girlfriend, nuzzling her and fussing over her injuries. Vivi smiled sadly at them. A load of art supplies were strewn all over the floor. They surrounded a portrait of the Bargainer in chains. 

Jiwoo cleared her throat, “Ugh, where’s Sooyoung?”

“Oh, she had a bit of a breakdown after you guys left. It was hard on her, so we put her to bed. She’s napping,” Vivi said casually. 

“She had a breakdown?” Jiwoo asked. Hyunjin shrugged. 

“Yeah, she was upset about being left behind. Threatened me with a knife and everything. But she had a good cry and we talked it through,” Hyunjin revealed nonchalantly. 

“She threatened you? With a knife?” Heejin exclaimed, holding her girlfriend’s wrist protectively. 

“Well, it’s not like she stabbed me or anything. It’s chill,” Hyunjin shrugged. Heejin turned a little pink. 

“It is not chill,” the part-demon hugged and stormed towards her bedroom. Cringing, Hyunjin followed her. 

Jiwoo stepped forwards and gripped Heejin’s wrist. 

“Let me talk to her,” she said gently. “Sooyoung is fragile right now. Please.”

Heejin scowled and nodded sombrely. Jiwoo smiled shyly and entered Heejin’s bedroom. The part-demon collapsed on the sofa in a huff. 

In the silence that followed, Vivi turned to Haseul. 

“So, I heard you died?” 

Jiwoo knocked gently on the bedroom door and padded into the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Sooyoung was lying on the bed, snuggled up beneath the pillowy covers. When she saw Jiwoo, she sat up quickly. Her large eyes were dark and sad. 

“Did Hyunjin tell you about the knife thing?” she asked, a little shyly. Jiwoo smiled. 

“Yeah, don’t worry I’m not here to tell you off,” Jiwoo joked. Sooyoung fiddled with the duvet. The younger angel settled on the edge of the bed, close enough to touch Sooyoung. “So, I heard you had a bit of a breakdown.”

“A bit?” Sooyoung scoffed. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Of course not,” Sooyoung huffed. Jiwoo remained silent, observing the fallen angel quietly. She had always been proud, always been closed off, but she’d open up eventually. 

“Do you want to hear what happened?” Jiwoo asked brightly. She glanced at Sooyoung and felt her cheeks heat up when she saw her attentive eyes focussed on her. Jiwoo looked down at her lap and began to babble, “So, basically, we went to the hell pit and we tried to fight off all the demons but there were so fucking many. And then these people from another realm showed up and teleported us to this random clearing. And then we fought the Bargainer, but he was beating us. He slashed my belly open. That was fun. And then he suddenly was bound by chains, thanks to Vivi, I presume. Then Hyejoo appeared, did you know Olivia Hye goes by Hyejoo now? Anyway, Hyejoo appeared and the Bargainer was like ‘kill them’ and she was like ‘no thanks’ and then Chaewon was like ‘I have a paper cut’ and then Hyejoo was like ‘yeet’ and yeeted off the Bargainer’s head. And then Haseul went to speak to Hyejoo and then-“

She was cut off by a pair of soft lips pressing against her own. Sooyoung had crept across the bed and kissed Jiwoo out of nowhere. Jiwoo’s eyes fluttered shut as she allowed the other angel to continue kissing her. 

She was disappointed when Sooyoung pulled away. She was even more disappointed when she saw how regretful Sooyoung looked. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” she said quietly, her voice full of genuine remorse. Baffled, Jiwoo spluttered. 

“What? Why? It was nice!” she blurted. Sooyoung looked away, but as she hid her face, Jiwoo noticed her small, shy smile. 

“I’m playing with your feelings. I’ve hurt you enough, I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” Sooyoung sighed sadly. She shuffled away and sat on the end of the bed, her back to Jiwoo. 

She was wearing a tank top. The tops of her deep scars that lined her back along where her traps met her lats. Jiwoo shuffled towards the fallen angel and settled behind her. She ran her palms up over the deep scars, feeling the imperfect tissue. Sooyoung shuddered. Encouraged, Jiwoo wrapped her arms around the slender woman’s waist and rested her chin on her shoulder, looking up at her handsome face and flushed cheeks. As soon as they made eye contact, Sooyoung tilted her head away and sighed heavily. Jiwoo felt the air leave her beneath her small hands. 

“Jiwoo... I don’t understand why you’re still here. I’ve hurt you so much. I got thrown out of heaven and left you behind. On Earth, I’ve lived a life of sin. You fell because of me and when I should have been there for you, I pushed you away. I keep hurting you over and over again and you keep on coming back to me. Why?” Sooyoung asked passionately. Jiwoo sighed delicately. 

“Because I love you,” she said simply. “And Sooyoung, for what it’s worth, the only time you’ve ever hurt me is when you pushed me away.”

Sooyoung tensed her jaw and gripped her knees. Jiwoo saw the tear that trickled down her cheek. 

“I don’t understand why you love me. I’m a bad person, I don’t deserve your love,” she declared firmly. Despite her harsh words, when Jiwoo began to run her hands over the taller woman’s stomach, Sooyoung leant into the touch, letting out a heavy breath. 

“You’re not a bad person,”

“I am,”

“No you’re not,” 

“Yes, I am!” Sooyoung cried. “I am a bad person! I was a terrible angel, too concerned about my own agenda and my own feelings to care about what was good and righteous. I’ve lived a life of sin here, I’ve been terrible to everyone I’ve met. Today, I threatened Hyunjin with a knife! And I’d do it again! Worst of all, I let him break me.”

“Sooyoung...” Jiwoo whispered. She shuffled around her to change her position, allowing Sooyoung to wrap her arms around Jiwoo and press her wet cheeks against her chest. Jiwoo rubbed the older angel’s back and she sobbed into her chest. “Sooyoung, listen to me. You’re not a bad person. Maybe you’ve done bad things, but you’re not a bad person. You deserve to be loved, you deserve to be cared for. And you are not bad, or weak, or evil. The Bargainer destroyed you, I know he did, but that doesn’t make you bad.”

“He looked into my mind. I don’t know how, but he looked into my mind and saw you,” Sooyoung whispered, her voice quivered. “He told me whenever I misbehaved that he’d find you and bring you down. Everything he’d do to me, he’d make me do to you. I thought I could resist him, stay strong, but the moment he threatened to you, I surrendered to him. He made me feel worthless. Unloved. Worst thing is, he’s right.”

“Sooyoung, I can’t believe you! Unloved? So many people love you! Vivi unnie, Chaewonie, even Haseul unnie has a soft spot for you. And there’s also me, I love you,” Jiwoo finished a little shyly. She could feel Sooyoung smile against her chest. The older angel pulled away and straightened up to look directly into Jiwoo’s eyes. 

“Jiwoo, I need to tell you. When I was in hell, I promised myself that I would do this, that I would be honest with you,” she took a deep breath, “Jiwoo, I’m in love with you. When I fell, I thought that sleeping around would help me forget you. It didn’t. It’s you. It’s always been you. I love you. And I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you.”

“Sooyoung, it’s okay. You don’t need to apologise, I forgave you a long time ago,” Jiwoo said softly. 

“But, I made you fall from heaven. We were happy in heaven. I ruined everything,”

“I was only ever happy when I was with you!” Jiwoo cried. “Sooyoung, I love you and I want to be with you. But I can only be with you if you stop kicking yourself all the time! You are not worthless or undeserving. Please, just let me love you.”

Sooyoung smiled slowly, “Okay,” she agreed quietly. “I think I can do that. I have a long way to go, but I think you can help me be better.”

“And, I’ll be with you every step of the way,” the younger angel promised. Sooyoung smiles brightly. 

“Fuck, I love you,” she mumbled as she leant in for a kiss. Jiwoo met her towards the end. The kiss was slow and sweet at first. It was Jiwoo who deepened it, pressing herself against Sooyoung and running her hands along the taller woman’s scars. She took advantage of Sooyoung’s breathy moan and pushed her tongue past Sooyoung’s lips, revisiting every inch of her. She tasted different to how she did in heaven. She tasted better. She tasted real. 

It was Sooyoung who pulled away first, a red blush covered her cheeks. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t make out on your friend’s bed,” she laughed. Jiwoo wiggled her eyebrows. 

“We can save the making out for later,” she giggled at Sooyoung’s sly smirk and gave her a chaste peck on her lips. “I love you too, by the way.”

Sooyoung, grinning like an idiot, stood up and brushed down the sweatpants she wore. 

“So, as I cut you off before, is there anything else I should know before we join the rest of the group,” Sooyoung asked, a little teasingly. Jiwoo hummed. 

“Hmm, well, Haseul died,” she said nonchalantly. 

“What?” Sooyoung screeched. 

“Oh don’t worry, she was resurrected,”

“Fucking hell.”

The party that ensued was brief and very low-key. They probably would have celebrated their success a little more wildly if Heejin and Hyunjin had kept more alcohol in their apartment. Sadly, there were only two bottles of soju to share between twelve people. 

Haseul chose not to drink. After all, she’d just been brought back from death, who knew what alcohol would have done to her. Jungeun noticed and opted out as well. Yerim also elected not to drink and Hyejoo sat silently in one corner, ignoring the bottle that was being passed around. Jiwoo and Heejin were forbidden from drinking by Haseul since their injuries were still healing and they had been given pain medication. 

It turned out, that two bottles of soju between six lightweights was more than enough for a good time. Together, the group ate the cake which Vivi had lovingly baked and talked about anything except the battle which they had just won. 

Although they had won the battle, Haseul was preoccupied with thinking about the war, and how she would end it. 

Despite her preoccupations, Haseul did notice how a slightly tipsy Sooyoung was cuddling up against Jiwoo like a sated kitten. It was sweet. She took a picture of them for teasing purposes. She knew she and Jungeun weren’t much better. Haseul basically sat on Jungeun’s lap with the former grotesque’s arms around waist. She had laid her head on Jungeun’s chest, the brunette’s head rested on top of her own. 

For once, Heejin and Hyunjin weren’t the clingiest couple in the room. Although that could have been because the latter downed half a bottle of soju, having been dared to by Yeojin, and decided to spend the rest of the evening taking to Hyejoo. Most of the group were uncomfortable with her presence, even though she had turned on her captor. Chaewon sat on the opposite end of the room to the raven haired girl, but kept on shooting forlorn, longing looks. Hyunjin, however, only cared about two things, Heejin and bread. And maybe cats. She didn’t give a shit about what Hyejoo had done and was very happy to talk at the sullen angel. Thankfully, the black winged angel was warming up to Hyunjin and even smiled. Haseul was shocked. She’d never seen Hyejoo smile before. 

Towards the end of their little party, Jungeun whispered to Haseul,

“Is everything okay? You seem a bit out of it,” 

Haseul sighed, “I need to talk to you. In private.”

Jungeun nodded and stood, helping Haseul to her feet as she did. 

“We’re going to get some water, does anyone else want some water?” Jungeun announced to the room. 

“Yah! Don’t fuck in my kitchen!” Hyunjin shouted, making the rest of the room laugh. 

When in the kitchen, Haseul lowered her voice and began to open up.

“Jungeun, while I was dead, I met my dad,” she said. 

“I know, you told us,”

“He told me that I need to defeat the Bargainer. That’s why I was allowed to live and that’s why he gave me his sword,” Haseul hugged herself with her arms. “He gave me a choice. I can either kill the Bargainer and risk his followers and allies attacking us for the rest of our existence... or I can destroy all demons by putting his sword into the heart of hell, destroying the entire hell dimension.”

“That’s a big choice. Destroying hell is super risky. You might die in the process. Even if you don’t, there’s not telling what havoc it will cause the rest of the realms,” Jungeun mused. 

“But if I just kill the Bargainer, his legacy continues. You saw the Dream Realm and what the corruption of hell was doing to it. It was turning a beautiful realm into a sick wasteland, turning good people into monsters. And what if killing the Bargainer ignites war? What if killing him leads to the destruction of human kind?” Haseul asked. Jungeun hummed and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. 

“I think that both options are risky. I think the main question is, if you kill the Bargainer, are you willing to spend the rest of your life defending yourself and your loved ones from demons?” Jungeun asked. 

Haseul sighed, “Jungeun, I’m tired. I want to live a happy life. With you.” There was a knowing silence that followed. Haseul knew that this wasn’t the best moment, this wasn’t the romantic moment she dreamed of. But she had to get it off her chest, while she still could. “When I was dying, I tried to tell you something. I don’t know if you heard it. I love you.”

Jungeun smiled bashfully, “Oh, I heard it, alright. And Haseul, I love you, too.”

Haseul grinned back at her for a moment, but the oddly romantic moment didn’t last long. Reality returned and she sighed heavily with the weight of the choice of her shoulders. 

“Jungeun, I think I know what I have to do,” she said quietly. She felt a warm hand envelope her own. 

“And I’m with you every step of the way,” Jungeun announced sincerely. Graciously, Haseul leant forwards and gave her lover a quick peck in thanks. She gripped onto Jungeun’s hands and leant against her chest. 

“I think we should go tonight,” she said softly. 

“Tonight? Are you crazy? You’ve only just escaped death?”

“I know, but we have to take the fight to him before he regains his strength and comes after us. The sooner we go, the better. At least we’d have surprise to our advantage,” Haseul explained. Jungeun huffed. 

“I hate that you’re right,” she grumbled. “Okay, when do you want to go?”

“As soon as we can find a way to go to the centre of hell,” Haseul answered. 

A purple glow illuminated the dimmed room. 

“Perhaps I can help with that,” Yerim declared. 

“Yerim, fuck! What the hell? Have you been listening?” Jungeun cried, evidently startled. 

Yerim chuckled brightly and covered her eye. The room returned to its previous lighting. 

“You two are pretty oblivious!” she giggled, “It’s cute though.” Jungeun frowned, but Haseul chuckled and nudged her lover teasingly. “Anyway,” Yerim spoke, uncovering her odd eye and allowing a slight purple glow to light up the room, “You guys know that I am gifted with the power of inter-dimensional travel through mirrors. I’ve seen a lot of hell. There’s a lot of mirrors in hell. Higher demons love to look at theirselves. Interestingly, there are hardly any mirrors in heaven. Anyway, anywhere you want to go to in hell, I can take you there.”

Haseul considered the offer, “That’s perfect!”

“There’s a mirror in the bathroom if you want to go immediately. And there’s a mirror in the hallway if you want to be more discreet,” Yerim suggested casually. 

Jungeun carefully thought through the offer. 

“Haseul, if you want it to just be us two, we’d best go through the hallway. Otherwise we’ll have the whole group of us going back to hell,” Jungeun pointed out. 

“I hate keeping secrets,” Haseul whined. She sighed. “You’re right though. Jiwoo’s still injured but she won’t admit it. Heejin too. It’s too dangerous going back to hell, we have to take as few of us as possible.”

“Let me come with you,” a tiny voice said. Hyejoo stepped out of the shadows. Her dark hair framed her pale, sad face. “Please, I know I’ve done unforgivable things, but the Bargainer has hurt me too. I want him gone. And... I want to prove myself to you guys. I know you guys don’t trust me, but I want to prove myself worthy of your trust.”

Jungeun seemed hesitant, but Haseul agreed almost immediately. Hyejoo was a girl with something to prove. And she had recently beheaded the demon they hated so much. Perhaps she could remove more of the Bargainer’s limbs. Haseul had to admit, but the thought of the Bargainer as a limbless, headless torso amused her greatly. 

“Let’s tell the others that dying tired me out and we’re leaving early. Hyejoo and Yerim, you two sneak out behind us,” Haseul commanded, “Bring your weapons. You’ll need them.”

They group entered the living room once again, smiling innocently. Hyejoo picked up her sword and slipped out of the apartment immediately. While Hyunjin downed the rest of the second bottle of soju, Haseul feigned a yawn and clung to Jungeun, who had began to gather her own belongings. 

“Guys, we’re going to go now. It turns out that being brought back from the dead is exhausting,” Haseul lied unconvincing. 

“Have fun fucking!” Sooyoung shouted and laughed heartily. Jinsol began to giggle uncontrollably. Her entire face and chest was bright red. 

“Ew, that’s my sister!” Yeojin yelled. Who allowed the baby to drink?

Haseul blushed. It was definitely better that her friends thought she’d ditched them for sex with her sort of girlfriend than them knowing that they were going back to hell. She smirked at Sooyoung and replied cheerily,

“Thanks, Sooyoung. I’m sure we will!”

As she and Jungeun walked out of the apartment, Haseul ignored Vivi’s knowing look.

The pair met Hyejoo in the hallway and stood in awkward silence. Yerim joined them a few minutes later with her own sword and an apprehensive smile. 

“Are you sure about this?” she asked shakily. Haseul smiled. 

“Not at all, but the sooner we leave the better. We don’t want a bunch of drunk girls following us to hell,” Haseul joked. Jungeun squeezed her hand, sensing the anxiety lurking behind the jokes and cheerfulness. 

Yerim nodded and turned to the mirror. 

“Okay, hold on to me. When we go through the mirror, do not let go, no matter what. I don’t want you getting lost in the mirror dimension. It’s weird in there,” the odd eye warned. Haseul gripped onto Yerim on one side, while Hyejoo awkwardly clung to the other. Jungeun kept her grip on Haseul’s hand. 

They let a nervous breath collectively and, in tandem, stepped towards the mirror. 

An impressive figure stepped in front with them with wings unfurled to their full, impressive wingspan. In the dim hallway light, her curved horns cast a shadow over the group of women. Heejin stared the group down with a disapproving frown. 

“Excuse me, where do you think you’re going?” she asked, hands on her hips. Feeling a schoolchild, Haseul replied,

“To hell?”

“I think the fuck not,” Heejin folded her arms. “Not without an explanation. Or a goodbye.”

Haseul shook her head, “Heejin, we’re going to end this, once and for all. I’m going to hell to destroy the Bargainer while he’s weakened, before he can recover and attack us again. Honestly, we barely made it out of the last battle. If it wasn’t for Vivi unnie and Hyejoo, we would have lost completely. He underestimated us, and next he won’t.”

“So you’re going to make sure there won’t be a next time,” Heejin muttered darkly. The short haired woman nodded in response. “Well, if you had told us, we could have not drunk and all gone with you.”

“The more people come with us, the more people I’m putting in danger,” Haseul declared, “Yerim is only coming with us because we need her to get to hell. And Hyejoo insisted that she come with us.”

Heejin puffed her chest out, “Well, I’m insisting too!”

“Heejin, you’re still injured!” Haseul protested. 

“My wing is fine now! Basically good as new!” she flapped her wings as if to prove her point and took out a nearby lightbulb. “See! Besides, you need someone on your side in case Hyejoo turns on you.” Heejin pouted accusingly at the dark angel. To be fair to her, Hyejoo seemed completely unbothered by Heejin’s hostility. The part-demon scoffed, “I can’t believe I ever came to you for advice.”

“It’s not like I asked you to,” the forsaken angel responded smartly. 

Haseul pressed her fingers to her forehead. 

“Fine, you can come with me. We just have to go before any others try to join. Fucking hell,” Haseul groaned. 

Beaming, the part-demon announced, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Hyunjin found a bottle of god knows what in our bedroom and now they’re playing truth or dare.”

“Aw, I haven’t played truth or dare in centuries,” Jungeun whined. 

Haseul chuckled, “We can play when we get back, darling.”

The former grotesque smiled deviously, making Hyejoo pretend to vomit. Yerim giggled at the dark angel’s antics. 

The thick tension soon returned to the hallway as they prepared themselves to return to the hell dimension. Each of the women grabbed onto Yerim and held their breath in anticipation as she guided them through the mirror. 

The land on the other side of the mirror was dark and gloomy. They seemed to be stood on concrete, a heavy, burgundy mist filled the air. 

“Yerim, where abouts are we?” Haseul asked hesitantly. 

“Hell is a deceptively large dimension, much bigger than the human realm,” she responded, “You said you wanted to get the centre of hell, right? The centre of hell is hidden by a series of circles.”

“Okay, and?”

“We’re in eight circle of hell,” Yerim announced brightly. 

The fog cleared. 

The group of them were stood looking over a pit of human souls and demons. The horrendous monsters were relentlessly attacking the humans. Some of the souls were attempting to fight back, some were screaming endlessly in fear and pain. Most of the souls had gone feral. Their expressions were blank. They either lashed out uncaringly, or sat motionless while demons teared into them. The pit was surrounded by a wall of mirrors. The pain and suffering of the souls was reflected back onto them. 

There was a break in the mirrors on the opposite side of the pit. A door. It was impossibly tall and very plain. It was black, probably obsidian judging by the way it shone. Every gap in the door frame was filled by a layer of ice. 

Yerim pointed to the door. 

“That is the entrance to the ninth layer of hell,” she said uncharacteristically darkly, “Where the great betrayer resides.”

Hyejoo gulped audibly. 

“The ninth layer of hell, is also the centre,”

Haseul stood up straight and cleared her throat. 

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” she declared. 

“But that’s not where the Bargainer resides!” Hyejoo protested. Haseul let out a shaky breath. 

“I know,” she said, “But I’ve made my decision. I don’t want to spend my existence protecting myself and loved ones from this place. It’s time to end this. Permanently.”

Haseul whispered the name of her father’s sword and felt it appear in her hand, solid and comforting. 

“It’s time to destroy hell.”


	31. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey pals I’m back.
> 
> This chapter is a shorter one. I was going to combine it with the next chapter but I decided not to for dramatic purposes. I love the drama and I love a cliffhanger. 
> 
> I will say, I’ve made a lot of progress with the next chapter so y’all hopefully won’t have to wait long for the next chapter. 
> 
> I hope y’all enjoy. As always feel free to comment.
> 
> Stay safe kiddos and remember blm.

The doors to the final circle of hell opened slowly when given the slightest push by Haseul. They opened to reveal a winding staircase. It was heading downwards. All Haseul could see at the bottom was a heavy, pale mist. The cold seeped through the entrance and encircled her body. Haseul shivered. 

“We should have wrapped up,” she joked. 

“Should have wrapped up what? A fucking gift for Lucifer?” Hyejoo deadpanned. Heejin paled while Haseul squeaked. 

“Lucifer?” 

The forsaken angel rolled her dark eyes. 

“Well, we should probably head down then,” Haseul said, her voice shaking. “Maybe someone should stay here and keep a look out in case the Bargainer realises what we’re doing.”

“I’m coming with you, Haseul,” Jungeun declared. 

“I said I’d come with you, I’m not going to stay up here and die of boredom,” Hyejoo announced. Heejin huffed. 

“Well, I said I’d keep an on Hyejoo,” she folded her arms. Haseul turned to the girl with the glowing purple eye. 

“Yerim? Will you stay here and keep watch?” she asked hopefully. The odd eye nodded with a joyful beam. Haseul clapped her shoulder. “Good. Stay safe. I don’t want you dying on us, especially since I think my sister likes you.”

Yerim’s cheeks flushed to match her colourful eye. 

The small band of warriors began to make their descent to the centre of hell. Jungeun lead the way, using the gem on the hilt of her sword as a guiding light. Heejin followed nervously, her wings quivering a little. Hyejoo seemed to hang back a little as they began to climb down the stairs. 

“Hey, are you okay? You don’t have to do this you know?” Haseul told the dark angel softly. A fierce look was shot in her direction. 

“I’m fine,” she spat. 

“Are you sure? It’s okay to be afraid you know,”

“I’m not afraid,” Hyejoo snapped. Her expression softened, but her grip on the hilt of her own sword did not. “I’m not afraid for myself. If I die, I probably deserve it. I’m afraid for you.”

“You’re afraid for me?” Haseul nearly laughed. She had to admit that her brush with death made her feel stronger than before, not weaker. Perhaps it’s was the knowledge that her powerful father was backing her. Hyejoo nodded. The pair slowed down, putting a larger gap between them and the two women in front of them. 

“You really don’t know what you’re doing do you?” Hyejoo asked accusingly. Haseul scoffed. 

“I know that I’m going to go the centre of hell. Thrust my sword into it. And then it will be destroyed. And then I’ll ask Jungeun to marry me and we’ll be together forever.” she said, realising how stupid her plan was as the words left her lips. 

“You don’t know what’s down there? Lucifer is down there. I sincerely doubt that he’ll just let you destroy him and his realm,” Hyejoo hissed, “And even if it does, destroying hell means that all demons are destroyed, every last one of them. Even those on earth.”

“Isn’t that the goal?” Haseul asked, a little stupidly. Hyejoo grumbled under her breath. Hyejoo was quiet for a moment. She dipped her head respectfully. 

“You’re a good person, better than I could ever hope to be. I really hope that this doesn’t kill you,” the dark angel whispered sincerely. “I’m sorry that I was ever cruel to you. My behaviour towards you was unjust. I have learnt that humans are not dirty and innately sinful. No matter if our veins contain heavenly fire or damned ichor, we are all capable of good and we are all capable of great evil. I’m proof of that. I’m sorry that I judged you. And I’m sorry that I blamed you for corrupting Jiwoo and Chaewon.”

Haseul smiled and ruffled the tall girl’s dark hair. 

“Aw I didn’t know you liked me so much. You’re such a lil cutie. Like a baby,” the short woman chuckled. If looks could kill, Haseul would have instantly fallen dead from the look Hyejoo shot her. A serious tone fell upon them and Haseul cleared her throat. “Hyejoo, will you do me a favour?” she asked. The tall angel nodded. “If the worst happens, don’t let Jungeun or Heejin stop me. Take them out of here, get them out of hell before it implodes or whatever.”

“And if they resist?”

“Make then leave by any means necessary. If I tell you to get out, you get out. I’d never forgive myself if they got hurt.” Haseul commanded. For a heavy moment, Hyejoo looked like she might refuse. Finally, she nodded in agreement. Haseul clapped her shoulder solemnly. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

Their descent was long and arduous. The steps were steep and narrow. It would have been far too easy to misplace a single step and tumble to one’s death. 

Thankfully, the group made it the bottom of the frozen staircase in one piece. 

At the bottom of the steps was another door. This one was small and very simple. It seemed to be made of simple wood, so old that it rotting. The brass of the door knob had turned to a rusty green and orange colour. Haseul almost didn’t want to touch it. But in order to open the door, she had to. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. 

“Are you sure you want to do this? We can go and find the Bargainer if you want,” Jungeun said softly. Haseul nodded firmly. 

“I know that my choice will change the world completely, but I think it is a necessary evil. We’ve come all this way, I can’t back out now,” Haseul replied. Her lover smiled gently and leant forwards to give Haseul a sweet, soft kiss. 

“For good luck,” she whispered against her parted lips. 

Blushing a little, Haseul turned back to the door and placed her hand on the rusted door knob. She let out one more heavy breath and turned the handle, pushing the small door open. 

Being so short, Haseul didn’t have to duck through the doorframe, unlike the rest of the group. She was the first to see what lay behind the rotting door. 

The ninth circle of hell was a circular cavern with an impossibly high ceiling. It was empty, save for the massive figure in the centre of the room. 

It was huge compared to Haseul’s tiny frame. It was at least seven feet tall, yet it’s head was far from the roof of the cavern. It had three pairs of wings. Well, perhaps they used to be wings. Rather, six twisted bones burst from the figure’s back. One pair extended upwards, one pair was curled into disgustingly twisted positions along its back, and third pair encircled its lower body. 

It’s legs were encased in opaque ice which travelled up to its hip bone. It’s upper body was completely bare, revealing its male figure. This man was probably once very toned and muscular, but now he was nothing but skin and bone. His skin was ash grey and stretched over his thin bones. Veins of black and dark red were visible through his slightly translucent skin. 

The figure was perhaps once very handsome. He had a strong jaw and a defined nose, his brow was strong and broad, but not too broad. His copper coloured hair curled all the way down to his waist. Russet red eyebrows rested over dark, desolate eyes the colour of molten gold. 

There was no denying that this creature was once an angel. 

The golden eyes fell upon Haseul and narrowed. 

“So you are the nephilim sent to be rid of me, and destroy the realm which has been bound to me,” he spoke with the deep, booming voice of a giant, yet his tone was almost bored. His unusual eyes raked over the short woman. His hands came to rest on his hips, his uncomfortably long nails stretched at the ice which he was encased in. “I thought you’d be taller,” he remarked. 

Haseul was speechless. She felt someone push her back, realistically it was probably Hyejoo, propelling her to take a few steps closer. She whispered the name of her father’s sword and felt its weight in her hand. Proudly, she extended it forwards. 

“My name is Jo Haseul and I am here to fulfil my divine duty,” she declared, trying to keep her voice from shaking. The giant devil hummed as he lowered his head. His eyes had taken a lighter colour, gleaming with amusement. 

“Greetings, Jo Haseul, daughter of the seraph, Jehoel. I see you have my brother’s sword,” he spoke gently and politely. 

“Brother?” Haseul squeaked. 

“Metaphorical. Do not fear, sweet nephilim, you do not share blood with the infamous Lucifer Morningstar,” his chuckle was deep and resounded throughout the cavern. 

Haseul attempted to muster up some bravado and puffed up her chest. 

“Where is the heart of hell?” she demanded, her voice beginning to shake. 

“Yeah, where’s the heart of hell?” Heejin cried from behind the short woman. Despite Haseul’s deadly weapon and Heejin’s demonic wings and horns, the two were the least intimidating duo in existence. Even a mouse would not be intimidated by the pair. Of course, Lucifer was no mouse. He raised a copper eyebrow, his golden eyes gleaming, and grinned lazily. 

“My, you are a spunky one,” he commented. “The heart of hell... you’re looking at it.” The devil raised his clawed hands to gesture to his chest, and the pulsing mound of darkness which lay beneath the skin to the left of the centre of his chest. 

“You’re the heart of hell?” Haseul sputtered. Jungeun leant forwards and whispered in her ear. 

“Babe, I think you might have to fight Lucifer,”

“Babe?” Haseul couldn’t prevent the gay panic which occurred. A deep laugh reverberated around the room. 

“How sweet, I am jealous,” Lucifer declared. “When I called the man I loved ‘babe’, he was seraph like myself, he told God. Of course, the news was not taken well. I tried to prevent my fall, but only ended up here instead. I would have given anything to fall with my lover rather than end up tied to hell, feeling it grow and unable to harness the power within me, but alas, here I am. I used to dream of freeing myself from my prison and destroying the heavens, using the power which the Lord tied to my life force. Use the Lord’s arrogance against him. Yet the fires of my passion have withered and I am a shadow of my former self. I welcome death. One tends to welcome death when one suffers a fate far worse than death,” he ranted dramatically, flicking his copper curls over his skeletal shoulder. His eyes had dimmed to a rusty bronze. 

“So... we don’t have to fight to the death?” Haseul asked. Lucifer smiled. 

“No, child. Do you know what you have to do?”

“I think so,”

“Then come closer. I will assist you,” the devil commanded. 

Jungeun pulled Haseul closer to her. 

“Haseul, babe, this could be a trap. What if he’s getting you close so that he can kill you,” she fretted. Haseul’s eyes flicked between the great betrayer, and his outstretched hand, and her girlfriend. She stepped closer to Jungeun and scowled at the devil. He rolled his golden eyes. 

“Darling, I’m not evil, I’m just gay,” he stated with a click of his tongue. 

Haseul turned back to Jungeun, looked back into her dark, serious eyes and shrugged. 

“I’m not worried about him. Not when you’ve got my back,” she said cheekily. Jungeun scowled, but her blushing cheeks revealed her true feelings. She nodded and stayed behind Haseul as the short haired woman approached the disgraced seraph. Hyejoo and Heejin awkwardly lurked by the door. 

When she reached Lucifer, she placed her free hand on top of his large one. The bony fingers encircled her wrist and pulled Haseul upwards. She found herself face to face with the seven foot giant. Her feet found footing on his ice prison and she released his hand to grip onto his shoulder for balance. Her sword brushed the floor. 

“I feel kinda bad about killing you, you seem like a nice guy,” she admitted. The devil raised his eyebrows. 

“I admitted to you that I used to want to destroy the heavens. If I weren’t trapped here, I wouldn’t have hesitated to murder you the moment you walked into my cavern. Don’t feel bad, sweetheart. And don’t make me change my mind,” he warned, his eyes took on a fiery glow. Haseul gulped. Suddenly, he winced. Haseul glanced down to see Jungeun pressing her sword into the devil’s side. He grinned. “At least your girlfriend has guts. Do you, little nephilim?”

Haseul growled and raised her sword, ready to plunge her father’s great sword into the heart of hell. She grunted, flexed her biceps... and did nothing. 

A crash distracted her. As she turned to the door, to see what was going on, Haseul lost her footing on the ice prison and fell to the ground. She scrambled around, gripping her sword tightly in her hand and gasped when she was who had burst into the ninth circle of hell. 

The Bargainer. 

He wore a black suit with a matching, silk shirt. His top button was undone and his tie was scruffy. His trousers were a little torn. Surprisingly, his head was attached to his body. Black thread marked the place on his neck where Hyejoo’s sword had beheaded him. He wore a manic grin on his face. In his hand, he held Yerim by the collar of her shirt. New scratches marred her face, adding to the scars which were already there. Her purple eye was dim. She looked sheepish. 

“I’m sorry, I tried to stop him,” she cried. 

“Silence, you,” the Bargainer screeched and slapped her mouth. When he pulled his hand away, Yerim’s mouth was covered by a black strip. She squirmed against his grip, trying to kick free to no avail. 

“Ooh, finally, some entertainment,” Lucifer cooed in delight with glistening golden eyes. 

The Bargainer growled, “Did you really think you could come to hell, to MY DOMAIN without me realising? You are far more stupid than I thought.”

Jungeun stepped forwards threateningly. Haseul scrabbled to her feet and raised her impressive sword ready to attack. She noticed how the Bargainer’s glowing red eyes widened when he saw the volcanic sword. He sneered. 

“Let her go, or else,” Jungeun began, stepping towards their tormentor with a sword raised for a lethal attack. 

“Or else what?” the Bargainer teased. The former grotesque took one more step closer, close enough to strike the demon. He smiled maniacally and raised his lethal claws to Yerim’s neck. The implication was obvious. “Now, now, not a step closer. Or my little pet gets it.”

Haseul glanced up at the pulsing black heart of the trapped devil in the centre of the room and made a move towards it. 

“Ah, ah, ah, little nephilim. That’s right, I know what you are now, you filthy crossbreed. Get any closer to the heart, and she’s a goner,” the demon hissed. Her heart racing, Haseul turned and saw how deep he was pressing his claw into Yerim’s neck. Deep enough to draw blood. Yerim winced as a drop of blood trickled down her neck. The Bargainer stretched out his tongue and licked it off her, then turned his head and spat on the ground. It was clear that he wasn’t bluffing. “Drop the fucking sword,” he commanded. 

Haseul hesitated for a moment. Yerim was shaking her head, but the short haired woman obeyed him. The infamous sword didn’t clatter to the ground. It disappeared into thin air. 

The Bargainer roared his displeasure and began to stalk towards Haseul. In his anger and confusion, he dropped his claw from Yerim’s neck and dragged the poor girl behind him. 

Haseul fought back a smile. Perhaps the demon wasn’t as intelligent as he thought he was. He had completely neglected to women behind him. 

The tip of a sword pierced through the black silk of the Bargainer’s shirt. 

“Gross,” he growled as he dropped his hostage. The sword was pulled out of the demon, spraying black ichor over the floor in front of them. Heejin suddenly leapt on his back and pushed him face first towards the floor. Crouching on his back like a vicious demon, Heejin grabbed onto the either side of the Bargainer’s head and pulled upwards. Agonisingly slowly, she pulled his head from his neck. The black thread which held his head in placed ripped sickeningly, splattering ichor everywhere. Even Lucifer looked disgusted. 

Heejin lobbed the demon’s head across the room. 

“Quick, get the heart before he recovers,” she cried. Haseul shook herself out of her shocked stupor and began to try to scramble up the devil. Lucifer looked down on her with amused eyes. He did not attempt to help nor hinder her. He simply watched with shining golden eyes. 

Haseul felt two sets of claws dig into her sides. She heard Jungeun cry no. The claws stopped digging into her sides, but the damage was done. She fell hard onto the floor. A pain shot up her back and she cried out. 

It turned out that the demon’s body was perfectly capable of fighting without a head. Perhaps that was because the head was watching the fight with judging red eyes. 

While Jungeun and Heejin were fighting off the body, Haseul withdrew Chaewon’s seraphic dagger from her belt and raced towards the demon’s headless body. She dodged the deadly onslaught of claws, even rolling over Jungeun’s back to strike the Bargainer’s ribs. However, no matter how hard they attacked him, he seemed unfazed. If only Vivi we’re here to bind him once more. 

While they tried to use brawn, Hyejoo used her brain. She crept towards the Bargainer’s head and swept it up in her hands. Simply, she covered his eyes. 

Suddenly, the fight was easy. The body swiped at the air blindly, trying to find anything solid to attack. Jungeun slammed herself into the headless body. The pair tumbled to the ground and wrestled violently. The Bargainer’s managed to swipe at her eye. Thankfully, there wasn’t an eyeball in that particular eye socket. Completely unbothered by the cut which welled up on her face Jungeu gripped the demon’s wrists and pinned his body to the floor. 

Gleefully, Hyejoo held the demon by his overly gelled hair and swung it around as if it was a nunchuck. 

“Unhand me, you filthy traitor,” the Bargainer was screeching. 

“Haseul, now! I can’t hold him down for long, he’s too strong,” Jungeun cried. 

“I’ve got you!” Heejin yelled. She ran towards Haseul and grabbed her under her arms. Haseul felt the air beneath her feet as she was hoisted into the air. Suddenly, she was descending upon Lucifer at a rapid pace. The devil looked up at her with an expectant expression. His eyes had remained the colour of molten gold. 

“Taher!” Haseul cried with all her might. The mighty weapon appeared in her hands instantaneously.

At just the right moment, Haseul forced the great sword into Lucifer’s chest. He cried out in pain, but he was smiling. 

The force of the blow sent Heejin flying backwards. Her body slammed against the wall of the cavern and she fell to the ground heavily. 

It was as if the heart of hell tried to resist. Haseul felt a force pushing against the sword. She wrapped her free arm against the devil’s boney neck and pressed her feet into the ice which encircled his legs. With all her might, she forced her sword deeper into the pulsing heart. 

Suddenly, she felt no more resistance. Instead, of jolt of energy ran up her arm and into her chest. Haseul’s heart lurched. It felt like someone had reached into her and twisted her own heart. The pain travelled up to her head and focussed in her eyes. It felt as if someone was pouring molten metal into her eyes. They burned with an unbelievable intensity. 

A scream resonated around the cavern. A cry of anguish and terrible, torturous pain. It was too deep to belong to Haseul. She adjusted her position to look backwards. On the floor, a winged figure was writhing and clutching her chest, scratching around her heart. 

The scream to too deep to belong to Haseul, for it belonged to Heejin.


	32. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I was going to combine this chapter with the next, but it was taking too long to finish and I separated them. I also like the drama lol.
> 
> Content warning here for mentions of suicide and murder.
> 
> As always, feel free to leave feedback. I’ll always try to respond.
> 
> Stay safe, blm. And happy pride

When Haseul was a baby, she was visited by an angel. A tall figure of seven feet flew through the open window of her room and peered down into her cot. The baby squealed with joy and reached out with grabby hands. 

The angel’s light illuminated the room. His silver hair was short and he wore a golden robe. His six wings were magnificent, even though the lowest pair flopped uselessly around his feet. 

The baby should have been frightened by this imposing figure. But she was not. The seraph bent over the baby’s crib and wiggled his finger over her, just out of the babies reach. The young Haseul cooed in delight as she tried to reach the glowing finger. A smile lit up her face. Her first smile. 

Molten golden eyes looked down upon matching golden eyes. The baby’s eyes lightened to a shiny, bright gold. 

“Hey, Seulie, what are you laughing at?” a woman’s voice cooed as she entered the baby’s room. When she walked in, she found two pairs of eyes the colour of liquid gold staring back at her, not just one. A regular woman would have screamed, but this was no regular woman. She folded her arms. “What are you doing here?” she asked shortly. 

“I am here to visit my daughter,” the seraph’s voice boomed around the room. Haseul’s mother huffed. 

“I thought you weren’t allowed out of heaven,” she said. The seraph’s eyes darkened to a dull, old gold. 

“I’m not. But, the Lord took pity on me for the Lord is merciful. I have been allowed to visit my daughter. I was not supposed to see you,” the angel spoke carefully. He sighed heavily. The air which came out of nostrils was tainted with silver. “My dear, I have very little time. If the Lord finds out I have spoken to you, that I have said too much, I will be forced to take a vow of silence.”

“Oh no! You have to take a vow of silence!” Haseul’s mother cried sarcastically. “Bullshit. Ever since you came into my life, my life has gone to shit.”

“I apologise, I did not mean to-“ 

“Well, you did,” her mother said firmly. She reached into the crib and lifted her child into her arms, rocking the clueless child gently. “Haseul is the greatest thing in my life. And yet, her birth has destroyed my life completely.”

The seraph remained silent, observing his former lover with eyes which had dulled to bronze. The baby seemed to sense something was wrong too, for her eyes had also turned to a dull bronze. 

The mother clicked her tongue. 

“Will her eyes always be like that? They’re so unusual, and with them changing colour all of the time... I dread to think what names they’ll call her when she goes to school,” Haseul’s mother sighed. “And those eyes... her father walked out when she opened them. I know my husband isn’t the brightest, but he’s smart enough to know that she’s not his.”

The seraph lowered his head shamefully. 

“I truly apologise for my wrongdoings. I should have kept my feelings for myself. I knew that my feelings were sinful, and yet I forced them on you anyway. If I hadn’t, our child would not have been born,” he claimed wistfully. Haseul’s mother stroked her baby’s head. 

“I’m glad you told me, I’m glad that my Haseul exists. And... you didn’t force your feelings onto me, I loved you too. I wouldn’t have freed you if I didn’t. Huh, look where that got me. Unemployed and looking at a divorce,” she finished bitterly. 

The giant man stroked the woman’s face tenderly. His eyes took on a rose gold hue. 

“I still love you, that has not changed,” he told her gently. “And I love our daughter, Haseul. That will never change. I fear my role as seraphim prevents me from protecting her.”

“You can stay,” Haseul’s mother breathed. “You could leave heaven and stay with me. Help me raise our daughter. We could be a family.”

The seraphim shook his silver head, his eyes bronze once more. 

“My dear, I cannot do that. It is sinful to love an angel and it is sinful for an angel to love. Spending your life with me will condemn you to an eternity in hell. I will not allow that. I also cannot abandon my duty, it is my divine purpose,” his voice boomed. Haseul’s mother turned away, rocking her child in her arms. The baby Haseul was starting to fidget and sniffle, her eyes a rusty colour. 

“But you’ll abandon your daughter?” she muttered angrily. The seraph sighed. 

“I shall never truly abandon her and when she needs me most, I will be there for her,” he promised. The woman turned, hope returning to her eyes. This was mimicked by the lightening of her baby’s eyes to their original molten gold colour. 

The seraph held out his arms. 

“May I hold her before I leave?” he asked gently. Her mother considered it for a moment, but she handed over the baby Haseul. 

The baby giggled in her father’s arms, her eyes lightened to a bright gold which was reflected by her father’s golden eyes. The angel held her gently and ruffled the tufts of fluffy black hair on top of the child’s head. His smile beamed brighter than his iridescent skin. 

“My child. My baby, Haseul,” he said softly, his voice an angelic whisper, “You have a great deal of choices ahead of you. I’m afraid to tell you that your life will not be easy, and you have many difficulty decisions in your future. My child, you may find in the future that your angelic nature, and the power you are blessed with, becomes more prominent. I hope that you choose to accept your power, but you may choose to live your life as a human. My dear daughter, you have a hard life ahead of you. The Lord has bestowed upon you a heavy burden, and a path which you must follow. That does not mean you are without choice, or without protection. The Lord has bestowed upon you a Watcher. She will ensure your safety and ensure you are able to enact your divine duty. My greatest love, I know you will not remember my warning, but I hope my words stay with you. Friends are your greatest strength. Allies are necessary. And I believe that love is not inherently sinful, not for humans. Love is power, power that angels and demons cannot understand. Sleep now my darling, and know that I will love you, no matter what you choose, what path you decide to follow, who you decide to love.”

The seraph pressed his golden lips to his daughter’s forehead. The baby squealed and laughed, pressing her tiny hands against her father’s golden skin. Her eyes were so bright that they were almost silver. Gently, he placed the baby back in her crib. 

“Sleep now, my darling. My dear, Haseul,” he spoke softly. Immediately, the child’s eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off to sleep. 

The seraph turned to his former lover. 

“My darling, her eyes will fade to a normal, human colour in a few weeks and shall remain that way, lest the fires of the heavens consume her blood. She will grow up like a normal child. Do not worry about your husband, I will ensure he returns to you. You shall not do this alone,” the angel declared. He stepped forwards and kissed his lover’s forehead tenderly, as if she would break. She collapsed into his waiting arms. “My love, when you wake you will forget all about me. You will not know about your child’s true father, and you will love your husband as if you found me. It is better this way. I truly loved you, but I can love you no more. I’m sorry.”

The seraph returned to the heavens. 

The husband returned to his family the next day. The wife did not remember ever falling out of love with him. True to the angel’s word, the baby’s eyes faded to a normal, but still beautiful, dark brown. The family lived normally, for a while. 

The seraph was right, Haseul’s life was indeed full of choices. Some were simple, some were not. Sometimes she made the best choice, sometimes she did not. Life is all about learning, it is normal to make mistakes, to turn around the wrong corner. 

Some choices are more important than others. 

The first choice Haseul faced, the first defining choice she remembered, occurred when she was five, when a new family moved in across the street. 

She remembered little about the incident in her adult life. She remembered the man she believed to be her father watch the family move in and laugh when he laid eyes on their child, a little girl. 

“I’d worried if I was that little girl’s dad. Are you sure she’s not the postman’s? The milkman’s perhaps?” he had laughed. Haseul remembered her mother covering her ears. She didn’t understand why. She still heard her mother’s response. 

“The little girl is adopted. They told me when they moved in. Said she was a troubled baby. Weird things happened when she was around. They’re devoutly Christian, hoping to pray the evil out of her,” her mother had remarked. 

“Christians, eh?” her father had joked. 

“We’re Christian,” her mother had countered. Haseul was five. She barely understood the concept of religion. She just knew she had to go to a weird place with weird people and sing weird songs for a few hours every week. 

She did remember her mother taking her round to her new neighbours’ house with some sort of gift. She was placed outside on the lawn with a fussy toddler while her neighbour fawned over her pregnant mother’s tummy. 

Haseul played with little Heejin, enamoured by her squishy cheeks and sweet smile, though she did find her completely black eyes strange. She remembered accidentally dropping Heejin’s teddy bear into a muddy puddle. She remembered the two year old toddler having a tantrum. The sky above them had grown dark, and Heejin’s already pale skin turned impossibly white as she screamed. A nearby vase exploded out of nowhere. Shards hit the children, but neither was harmed. 

Haseul remembered being scooped up into her mother’s arms away from the toddler, who had suddenly gone very quiet. While Haseul’s mother checked her child for injuries, her neighbour gripped her child’s wrist and began to scold her, demanding answers, calling her a child of the devil. 

Heejin had looked up at Haseul with eyes full to the brim with tears. One fat tear trickled down her cheek, leaving a faint red mark on her cheek. Haseul’s mother had gasped. 

“M-maybe we should leave,” her mother had suggested. 

“Not yet, perhaps my devil child will learn to control her demon impulses if she is disciplined in front of good, righteous people like yourselves,”

Haseul didn’t understand much, but she understood the fear in Heejin’s black eyes. 

A decision was made. And a lie was told. 

“Mummy, it was me that broke the vase. I was being silly and I knocked it over by accident. Please don’t hurt Heejinie,” she spoke in the clumsy way five year olds speak. Her mother had sighed. 

She didn’t remember how the incident concluded. She just remembered her mother telling her not to visit the Jeon family again, no matter how cute their little demon daughter was. 

Haseul faced many decisions in her life. Some were insignificant and silly. Some were more defining, such as the decision to accept her own sexuality. Sometimes she made good decisions. But there were some decisions she regretted. Some she thought about constantly for the rest of her life. 

Such as the worst decision she made in her life. She decided to go to a party. All of her friends were going, and she didn’t get invited to many parties. The guy who liked her was going. People were bringing alcohol. Her parents said no, they were busy that night and needed her to watch her sister. She went anyway. 

She got a little tipsy. She played spin the bottle and had her first kiss with a girl. She made out with a guy in a closet. She realised she didn’t like guys. She went home. And life fell to pieces. 

She returned to an empty house that should not have been empty. Windows were smashed in her sister’s bedroom. Her entire room was a mess, like someone had gone through it entirely and thrown its contents all over the place. Worst of all, her sister was missing. 

The disappointment on her parent’s faces was too much to bear. She would never forget her mother telling her,

“This would never had happened if you had stayed in and done what we told you too.”

Haseul didn’t go to another party until after she met her first girlfriend. 

Some decisions in her life were good ones, but after her greatest mistake, Haseul would always consider consequences of her decision before she made it. 

When a group of girls were bullying the new girl in school, a girl who couldn’t even understand what they were saying, for having a pride pin, Haseul made a decision. She could have ignored it, kept her head down. Sticking up for her would surely out herself. But the confused, distraught look on the beautiful girl’s face made up her mind. She stuck up for the girl, outed herself and became ostracised by almost the entire school. In doing so she met her first love. Haseul considered this a good decision. 

After her mother passed, Haseul found herself staring at a pile of pills in her hands. She thought about it. She did more than consider it. When the capsules touched her lips, she thought about her friends. They’d be distraught. Her father would have lost everyone he cared about. She didn’t even say goodbye to Vivi. She pictured their faces and made a decision. She put the pills back in the bottle and set it back in the cupboard. She reached for her unopened bottle of medicine and took an anti-depressant instead. For a long time she wasn’t sure if the choice she made was the right one. Now, she was sure it was right. 

Now, Haseul faced the greatest decision in her entire life. All other decisions she had made paled in comparison. Her father’s words had been correct. She had been bestowed with a very heavy burden and she was afraid it would break her back. 

The decision had been simple, easy even, at first. Despite the risks, she believed she was choosing between a troubled future full of danger and anxiety, her enemy’s allies forever attacking her, and a peaceful future with the woman she loved. She thought it was as simple as that. 

Oh, how wrong she was. 

For to get her own happy future, she had to take away someone else’s. Not just one person’s future, but an entire group of people. Yes, these were part demons, some were probably evil. But that didn’t mean they all deserved to die, did it? Did they deserve to have their futures, their chance at a happy ending, ripped away from them? Just like that?

No. Of course not. How could she be so arrogant, so ignorant, to think that she had the right to kill millions of people? This wasn’t her. She wanted to help people. She wanted people to happy. How could she be so calm about killing millions?

It wasn’t just the demons themselves who would be futureless, but she’d be forever destroying the lives of those who cared for a demon or part-demon. Someone like Pastor Kim Dahyun, or her dear friend Hyunjin. She remembered how Hyunjin was when Heejin left. It was as if all life had been extinguished from her eyes. Then, she had hope that Heejin was alive. Her death would shatter Hyunjin completely. 

And Heejin. Her dear friend, her first real friend. How could she live with herself if she allowed her to die? She wouldn’t just be allowing her to die, she’d be actively killing her. 

She asked herself, is my happy ending worth all this pain and trauma? Can I knowingly destroy the lives of countless people? Can I kill my own best friend?

The answer was no. 

How could Haseul ever be at peace, how could she ever be happy, with the knowledge of what she had done?

Perhaps this was her divine duty. Perhaps this was the reason for her birth, and for her re-birth. Perhaps her sole purpose in life was to rid the world of hell and it’s demons. 

Haseul made a decision. 

She decided to turn her back on her divine duty. 

She withdrew the sword from the heart of hell. 

While Haseul considered her choice, chaos erupted around her. 

Heejin lay on the floor, clutching at her chest and screaming. She was scratching at her chest, tearing at her skin with so much force that she began to draw blood. 

“It burns!” she screamed, “Get it out! It burns!”

The Bargainer was screaming too. His face was scrunched up in agony. His headless body began to convulse, throwing Jungeun off it. The former grotesque landed heavily on the ground and watched in dismay. Haseul was staring at the heart of hell with a look of determination. She wondered if her lover had even noticed that her best friend was dying. She wondered if she’d be able to love her in the same way if she had noticed. She was afraid. And there was nothing she could do. And that terrified her even more. 

Hyejoo looked shellshocked. She looked around at the chaos and began to shake. She hoped that Haseul wouldn’t give her a signal to leave. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to pull Jungeun and Yerim from this mess. 

Yerim was trying to help Heejin. And failing. There was little she could do her. Her eye was dim, reflecting the little energy she had. The fresh cuts on her face were dripping onto Heejin’s clothes. 

The screaming was becoming too much for Jungeun to stand. Terrible memories swarmed her mind. She covered her ears. 

Suddenly, Haseul let out a yelp and pulled the sword out of Lucifer. It went flying across the cavern and Haseul soon collapsed onto the floor. She looked up at the devil’s golden eyes and whimpered. 

“I couldn’t do it,” she whispered. The devil raised his eyebrows sarcastically. His head lolled backwards and he began to speak, his voice reverberated around the ninth circle of hell. 

“It may be too late. I feel the power tied to me begin to dissipate. You may have changed your mind, but I am still dying,” he announced. 

Haseul scrambled to her feet. She ran over to Heejin, who had gone quiet. The part-demon lay on the ground, wheezing heavily. Her skin was so pale that her black veins were visible. The nephilim lifted her friends body to hug her close. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t think... I’m so sorry,” she cried. Heejin coughed and looked up at her friend. 

“Haseul... your eyes,” was all she said. Heejin’s eyes began to flutter shut. She moaned a name. Hyunjin. Oh god. 

Tears streamed down Haseul’s cheeks. This was the last thing she wanted to happen. She had to make this right. Somehow, she had to undo the damage she had caused. 

An idea struck her. Lucifer was dying, the power could not be tied to him. Perhaps it could be tied to someone else. 

“Wait,” Haseul cried as she raced back towards the seven foot seraph. “Can you transfer the power to someone else? Tie someone else’s life force to this dimension?”

The devil smirked lazily, “Perhaps it is possible. Though I fear only someone with heavenly fire in their veins would be able to withstand the darkness and the energy.”

“Haseul, no!” Jungeun screamed, beginning to move towards her. Haseul turned and nodded at Hyejoo. The forsaken angel nodded sombrely in return and quickly moved behind Haseul’s lover. She grabbed Jungeun’s wrists and held them behind her back, preventing her from stopping Haseul. 

“I’ll warn you, nephilim. If you do this, you will never be able to leave this dimension. It is a lonely existence,” Lucifer warned. As he spoke, more dark energy leaked out of the hole in his chest. 

“I know,” Haseul responded. She glanced back at her lover, who was desperately trying to break out of Hyejoo’s grip. “But I don’t think I’ll be alone.”

The last thing Haseul thought as she placed her hand over the open wound on Lucifer’s chest was ‘I hope my friends visit me in hell’. 

The energy spread from her hand and quickly traveled through her entire body. It was like her veins were on fire. She feared they would explode. This energy was nothing like the power she felt when she held Chaewon’s dagger for the first time. This was nothing like the fire which coursed through her veins. This was dark and desolate. It conjures images in her mind of her parents’ faces when she told them the truth about her sister’s disappearance, the tiny, empty casket at the funeral she had been forced to attend, her mother’s legs twitching while her body hung from the ceiling, a pile of pills in her hands. The dark sadness that consumed her at lowest points in her life were nothing compared to this dark energy that flowed from the devil’s heart into her own. 

Until it didn’t. 

In the midst of the chaos, while Hyejoo tried to prevent Jungeun from stopping Haseul, while Yerim ministered Heejin’s pulse, nobody noticed the Bargainer. They didn’t realise he was listening. They didn’t see the scheming grin that formed on his face. They didn’t notice his headless body use its remaining energy to heave itself upright. 

They only noticed when it was too late. 

The Bargainer ran at the centre of the cavern. Hyejoo released Jungeun and tried to lunge for the headless body. The Bargainer was ready and struck the angel in her stomach. Hyejoo cried out and collapsed to the floor. She gritted her teeth and stayed down, looking defeated. Viciously, the demon ripped Haseul away from Lucifer. The energy of hell quickly began to dissipate into the air once again, and the demon slumped against the devil, gripping onto his arms for support. 

The Bargainer’s head laughed maliciously while he watched his body slammed his palm against the open wound which lead to the heart of hell. 

“It’s mine!” he yelled maniacally, “All the power of hell belongs to me!”

Hyejoo remained on the floor slack jawed, she was staring up at the demon in horror. Jungeun rushed to Haseul’s side and pulled her into her chest. Haseul’s eyes fluttered open. They were no longer brown, but the colour of molten gold. 

“J-Jungeun,” she spluttered against her lover’s chest. “I failed. I think I just made everything worse.”

The Bargainer was laughing more and more maniacally as Lucifer’s veins lost their colour, his eyes beginning to fade to white. 

“It’s mine! I will be the ruler of hell! All humans will bow to me! I have all the power to destroy the heavens! I can kill my enemies with a single look! And I think I’ll start with you first. I’ll bring Miss Wong down and make her watch me kill each and everyone of you,” he cried dastardly. 

Haseul whimpered and let Jungeun hold her head against her chest protectively. 

The Bargainer’s laughs began to turn into screams. His red eyes began to turn a different colour, gold. His veins began to glow first, then his entire body began to release an iridescent gold and silver light. 

“If it hurts, let go,” Lucifer looked down at the higher demon. The Bargainer’s head still lay across the cavern. His eyes were shut and his teeth were gritted. 

“Never! The power... is... mine!” he cried. 

Abruptly, the Bargainer’s head and body exploded into a mess of black shadows and gold and silver energy. It lingered in the air for a while, directionless. 

It’s energy called to Haseul. There was some of the dark energy inside of her, her veins sang for the energy, it longed to reunited with the rest of its power. Jungeun’s hands on her skin grounded her, helping resist its siren’s call. 

As quickly as the energy had caused the Bargainer’s to explode, the energy darkness and fire rushed back into the imprisoned devil, back into his lifeless body through the wound Haseul caused. 

The life returned to the devil. 

His eyes returned to their bright gold colour. His once ash grey skin now had a silver glow. The strength returned to his muscles, he was now more than skin and bone. However, in absorbing the demon, his body changed. His black veins bulged as his muscles grew. The long nails morphed into gnarled claws. His featherless wings morphed and grew. His wings became like those of a bat, leathery and strong. 

Lucifer rested his clawed hands on the top of his ice prison and tipped his head back, audibly letting out a deep breath. He began to pant heavily, his claws digging into the ice which encapsulated his legs. 

“Get out,” he growled, quietly at first. Suddenly he whipped his head forwards, copper curls fell over his face. He repeated louder, “Get out!”

Haseul could only stare at the devil, completely bewildered. 

“B-but... aren’t you happy that you aren’t dead?”

“Of course I’m not happy, you snivelling idiot. You were supposed to kill me! You were supposed to to destroy the hell dimension! That’s what you were put on this Earth for! But no! You couldn’t stick a fucking sword in my fucking chest. And now I have the consciousness of a demon swimming inside of me. Fucking disgusting,” Lucifer moaned. He lowered his head with a growl. “Get out of my sight. Leave my realm before I change my mind about killing you.”

Still confused, Haseul let Jungeun help her get to her feet. They scuttled over to Heejin and picked up the still unconscious, but thankfully still alive, girl. 

Haseul looked over to the devil one last time. Perhaps... it was worth a try. 

“Since I didn’t kill you, since your dimension is still yours to control once you are freed from the ice... will you promise that you and your demons will leave us alone?” she asked hopefully. 

“Fine... if it means you’ll leave me alone then yes... I swear that I will not intentionally cause you harm. Happy?” Lucifer spat, his eyes taking on a huge hue. He leant backwards, and grasped his chest, still panting heavily. “Get out!” he bellowed. 

Haseul nodded to her lover and the rest of the rag tag group. They each took one of Heejin’s limbs and carefully carried her out through the door. They left behind a screaming devil in the ninth circle of hell. The door closed shut behind them. 

Haseul’s heart sank when they reentered the eight circle of hell. 

The mirrors they entered through had been smashed to pieces. Only small shards of the reflective material remained. Forlornly, Yerim picked up a shard and squinted at her reflection. She raised a hand to run her finger over the new scars on her face. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologised wistfully, “I tried to stop him. He couldn’t take my power anymore, but that didn’t matter. I was no match for him. He only kept me alive for leverage. He made me watch him destroy our only escape route.”

Haseul frowned. Jungeun glanced around with a thoughtful scowl. 

“Surely there must be a piece large enough for us to pass through. Surely there must be...” the former grotesque began to search around the edge of the hell pit, looking for a large mirror shard. Something caught her eye and she gestured to the inside of the hell pit full of souls and demons. She pointed to a mirror shard approximately the size of a person. “There. You’ve got us through smaller shards than that.”

“It’s not just the mirrors, Jungeun unnie,” Yerim explained, gesturing wildly with her hands, “I’m not strong enough. Inter-dimensional travel requires a lot of energy. I can’t guarantee right now that I can take all of you through. You might get lost between the dimensions. I can’t... I’m not even sure that I can go through by myself right now.”

Something clattered in the ground. It sounded like a sword. Haseul whipped around to see Hyejoo dropping to the ground, clutching her side. When she pulled her hand away, there was blood on her hands. 

“He hit me with more than just his fist,” she said gravely. “So, uh, the sooner we leave the better.”

Jungeun pinched her eyebrows. 

“We could go through the rings of hell, make our way to the top and pray that we find a portal,” the brunette suggested, wincing as we spoke. 

“I’ve read a summary of Dante’s inferno. It seems to dangerous. Usually, we could manage it. But... with one of us unconscious. One of us injured. And all of us weakened, it’s not an option,” Haseul cried. “Maybe the Dream Realm can help?”

“We can’t get to them either, Haseul. We’d need a portal,” Jungeun gritted her teeth. She sighed. “I think we only have one option.” She turned to Yerim. “Yerim, we are both odd eyes are we not? Take my strength and leave this place. Go get help.”

Yerim paled, “Unnie... what if... I don’t know...”

“Yerim, this is our only option. We need to know when we are defeated, when we need help. Go and find some help,” Jungeun commanded. She extended her hand. Yerim was silent for a moment. Where there was usually a smile, a stoic expression had taken place. She nodded shortly and grasped Jungeun’s outstretched hand. 

Suddenly, her odd eye was bright once more. An invisible breeze blew her hair backwards. Her back straightened and her chin lifted. 

Jungeun gasped as released her friend’s hand. Haseul rushed to support her lover as she stumbled and struggled to remain upright. 

“I’ll go get help. I’ll be quick, I promise,” Yerim swore with a nod. She leapt off the edge of the hell pit and dove straight down. Haseul peered into the pit just in time to see the odd eye disappear through the mirror shard. 

Shaking, Haseul sat on the ground beside Hyejoo. The angel had removed her hoodie and was pressing it into her wound. Her face was expressionless, but her wings quivered. 

“Hey, you didn’t need to throw yourself at the Bargainer, you know. Are you gonna be okay?” Haseul asked tenderly. 

“I’ll be fine. Just as long as Yerim is quick,” the forsaken angel muttered through gritted teeth. 

Jungeun sat beside Haseul and rested her head in her lap. The brunette looked up at her lover with her one tired eye and smiled. 

“You did it, Haseul. You killed the Bargainer,” she said. Haseul stroked her lover’s hair. 

“I didn’t do what I set out to do,” she sighed bitterly. 

“I think you made the right choice,” Jungeun replied. Smiling softly, Haseul cupped her cheek. 

Hyejoo gagged loudly, then looked away when Haseul turned to frown at her. 

A faint cough interrupted the moment. 

“Heejin!” Haseul exclaimed. Immediately, she scrabbles over to her friend’s side. Jungeun’s head hit the floor with a loud ‘bonk’. She pouted as she sat up and rubbed the back of her head while Hyejoo pretended not to laugh. 

Haseul settled by her friend’s side and rubbed her arm. Heejin’s eyes fluttered open and fell onto Haseul. Her lips quirked upwards. 

“Hey, unnie. Am I dead?” she asked quietly. Haseul shook her head. The part-demon coughed. “What happened?” she gasped. 

“I... it’s difficult to explain. Destroying hell was destroying all demons, including you. I couldn’t do that. I tried to stop it. The Bargainer, he tried to take the power of the hell dimension for himself but it killed him,” Haseul explained. Heejin closed her eyes again and sighed. 

“That’s nice. At least we don’t have to worry about him,” she sighed heavily, “Unnie... I don’t feel right. I feel like a part of me missing.” Her fingers weakly grasped Haseul’s sleeve. “Unnie I want to go home. I want Hyunjin.”

Haseul stroked her friend’s hair with a motherly smile. 

“It’ll all be okay, Heejin. I promise. Just get some rest, everything will be fine. The Bargainer is gone. Hell is intact. The devil promised not to come for us. Everything is going to be okay. Get some rest, sweetie.”

Heejin blinked innocently and pressed her head against Haseul’s hand, like an innocent puppy. She muttered something as her eyes fluttered shut once more. She coughed a little as sleep took her once more, but her breathing was steady and even. 

Haseul looked around the cavern. She tried to ignore the screams of the tormented souls in the hell pit. 

She just had to trust in Yerim. She had to trust in her friends. 

Some time passed. Haseul could not be sure how long had passed, time was impossible to tell. Her stomach rumbled in protest. Her mouth was dry. 

Heejin was still sleeping, her slumber was heavy and difficult to disturb. Hyejoo was getting paler by the minute. She claimed to be fine, claimed her injury wasn’t serious. Yet, she seemed unable to move without wincing in pain. Jungeun had snuggled up to Haseul. She obviously trying not to fall asleep. It was cute how she couldn’t keep her eyes open. 

Haseul tried to keep positive. But the thought refused to leave her mind. What if they died there? After all they’d been through, she couldn’t die like this. 

Riddled with anxiety, she fell into an uncomfortable sleep. 

Haseul woke up alone. 

The only thing around her that suggested that her friends had been with her at all was a small puddle of blood in the position where Hyejoo had been. That was it. There’s wasn’t a single scrap of fabric, or even a hair, that suggested that she hadn’t been alone. 

Had they left without her?

Surely not. 

If Hyejoo had been bleeding enough to leave a puddle, she would have left a trail. There was no trail. 

But what if they had?

Haseul put her head in her hands. 

Could she really blame them for leaving her?

Maybe Heejin woke up while she was asleep. Maybe they talked about her while she was sleeping. Maybe they talked about what she had tried to do. 

Haseul slammed her hand over her mouth as if it would stop her from crying, stop her chest from getting tighter and tighter. 

If they did leave her behind, maybe she deserved it. She had just attempted to murder millions of people and destroy and entire realm. She was stupid to think that she could have done such a thing with no consequences. She thought she could just snap her fingers and get a happy ending. She should have known by now that things didn’t work out like that. Not for her. 

Haseul cried into her hands. 

She nearly killed millions of people. Yes, she did change her mind and try to save them, but she wasn’t even sure that it worked. Heejin was still unconscious when she last saw her. Maybe she’d be unconscious forever. 

Now, Haseul was on the verge of having a full blown attack. She tried to remember her therapist’s advice for situations like these. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, forcing herself to focus on something else. 

“It wasn’t my fault,” she whispered to herself repeatedly. Her therapist had made her say that mantra when she started having panics. It was in response to her sister’s disappearance, her mother’s death. A strong voice told her that this was her fault. It wasn’t entirely wrong. 

The tightness in her chest eased enough for Haseul to be capable of rational thought. She stood stiffly and let out a shaky breath. 

Perhaps there was another reason for her loneliness. Haseul looked down at her hands. She noticed her veins were a little darker than usual. Perhaps that was it. She did absorb some of hell’s energy. Lucifer warned that she wouldn’t be able to leave hell, perhaps she’d absorbed enough to prevent her from leaving. 

That thought was less terrifying that the concept of abandonment. 

Haseul snorted to herself. No wonder Hyejoo had felt so betrayed. She’d felt sorry for her before, but now she really sympathised with the angry angel. 

Putting her hands on her hips, Haseul sighed. She supposed there was only one way for her to escape now. 

She had to go through the circles of hell, make her way out on her own. She could do this, maybe. 

She whispered the name of her father’s sword and felt it’s hilt in her hand. Sadly, she stared at the blade. Part of her wished her father hadn’t told her about the option of destroying hell. If this was a test, she would have surely failed it. She tried to choose the easy way out, and nearly destroyed everything in the process. 

A glint of gold distracted her from her gloomy thoughts. Haseul caught a glimpse of a strange golden bronze colour in the reflection from her blade. She looked around for the source of the colour, to no avail. 

That was until she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a broken mirror shard. She picked up the shard from the floor and stared at her reflection. She’d changed. 

She was paler than usual. And she could see some of the veins on her face. Faint lines marked her forehead and neck. Instead of seeming light blue, they appeared almost black. What was most disconcerting was the colour of her eyes. 

Her eyes were no longer brown, but they were gold. To be exact, they were bronze when she first looked in the mirror. But, as curiosity outweighed her anxiety and sadness, she watched her eyes lighten until they were the colour of molten gold. Like her father’s. Like the devil’s. 

She caught a glimpse of purple in the mirror shard. She grinned.


	33. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is my penultimate chapter. Just one last chapter to go to tie everything together.
> 
> Just a quick disclaimer, if you enjoy reading the fics of a certain crustacean or if you sympathise with them, please don’t read my fic and please don’t interact with me. I know I’m not innocent, and I know I’ve written questionable things in the past, which I genuinely feel really guilty about, but at least I don’t fetishise r*pe.
> 
> Now that’s said, those of you who are left, please enjoy my work. Feel free to comment. Like I say, I’m nearly finished now. I feel this chapter is a bit lacklustre, but I’m so close to finishing this fic that I kind of just want to get it done with, ya feel?
> 
> Anyway, stay safe, black lives matter, and don’t support nonces.

Vivi sat on Heejin and Hyunjin’s sofa and waited patiently with a bottle of water. Something was wrong. That was obvious. The messages she received from her friend’s girlfriend confirmed that. 

She was angry. Angry that Haseul didn’t trust her to talk about whatever happened to her when she died. She was angry that she’d even died in the first place. She was certainly angry that Haseul didn’t talk to her about whatever she was doing right now. 

Before she left Heejin and Hyunjin’s apartment, Haseul had seemed nervous, on edge, uncertain. She’d known her for long enough to know how Haseul felt about decisions. She hated them. She always worried about the decisions, how they would affect her, how they would affect other people. 

Vivi had a feeling that Haseul hadn’t thought about this decision much at all. It wasn’t like her to make the wrong decision. 

More than anything, Vivi was worried. Something had happened, she could feel it. 

She didn’t want to have to use her powers, but something told her she would have to. 

Vivi sipped on her water silently. She was glad she hadn’t drunk much at their mini party. If her instincts were right, and they usually were, she would need to be as sober as possible. 

Chaewon toddled into the living room with a slight frown. 

“We’ve put Hyunjin and Jinsol to bed. They weren’t having it at first, but once their heads hit the pillows they were out. Heejin won’t be happy that her bed has been invaded by a drunk girl. She won’t be happy that Hyunjin’s cuddling her either,” Chaewon said drily. 

“And Sooyoung?” Vivi asked. 

The blonde angel shrugged and settled beside the human. 

“She’s... she’s fine. She’s having a cry to Jiwoo. Jiwoo unnie was going to take her home, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I think Hyunjin’s going to get another cuddle buddy,” Chaewon remarked. Vivi chuckled. The angel continued, “Perhaps we shouldn’t have let them have the wine. I mean, truth or dare was fun, but we should have quit when we were ahead.”

Vivi smiled at the tense blonde, “Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” The Cantonese woman offered her drink to Chaewon, who took a grateful sip. “Is Yeojin okay?”

“She’s snoring in Heejin’s bed. I don’t know why they bothered getting a two-bedroom apartment when they share a bed,”

“Did you drink much?”

“Not really. Bit tipsy, but I sober up easily,” she said in her tiny voice. 

They fell into a silence. It was neither comfortable nor awkward. It was simply silence. Vivi suddenly turned to her companion. 

“Do you still love her?” she asked. Chaewon turned with a raised eyebrow. 

“Do you?”

“I assume we’re taking about different women,”

“You’d assume correctly,” Chaewon replied smartly. She cleared her throat and looked down at her lap. “Yes, I still love her. I know she’s done a terrible thing. Her betrayal... it will take a lot for me to forgive her. But when I look at her, I still see the girl I fell in love with. I’m still in love with her. And I know she’s still in love with me.”

“You two could get together. Reach out to her. See what happens,” Vivi suggested. Chaewon snorted. 

“You know as well as I do, unnie, that it’s not that simple,” she responded. Vivi hummed in agreement. It wasn’t that simple. “So you didn’t answer my question,”

“It’s a difficult one. I’m not sure I’m in love with her like I was, but I still have feelings for her. I still care for her. But I’m not... it doesn’t hurt to be around her anymore,” Vivi said truthfully. 

“Does it? It feels to me like it’ll never stop hurting. My heart aches every time I look at her,” Chaewon admitted, “I feel like I’m breathless just when I think about her.”

“I know it’s hard. But you a choice. You can either let her go and get over her with time. Or you can reconcile and try again. It might not work, but I think it’s worth a try,” Vivi advised the confused blonde. The angel sighed. 

“I suppose I do have several lifetimes to figure this out, to figure myself out,” she mused. 

“Just be honest with her. Hyejoo seems a little fragile. Don’t toy with her, that will make things worse for the both of you. Believe me, I toyed with Haseul for a while before we broke things off completely. It just made it harder for the both of us,” Vivi confessed. Chaewon groaned and leant back on the sofa. 

“Unnie, I think we’re both a bit tipsy still. But you’re right,” Chaewon begrudgingly agreed. 

Jiwoo appeared from Hyunjin’s bedroom alone. 

“Hey, so, Sooyoung is has gone to bed. She’s all cuddled up Jinsol and Hyunjin. It’s adorable. Here, I took a picture,” the angel went to show her friends the picture she took of the three sleeping, drunk women. She stopped when she noticed the somber mood in the room. “Woah, who died?”

Vivi glanced at her phone and saw the updates coming from one Kim Dahyun about her girlfriends. 

“No one, yet,” she replied nonchalantly. Frowning, Jiwoo settled beside her angelic friend. 

“So...” the cheery angel spoke carefully, “Where do you think Haseul unnie and Jungeun went? I don’t think they went home. Not when Heejin disappeared right after.”

“Wherever they went, they took Hyejoo with them,” Chaewon said, her voice shaking a little. “I doubt they went to rainbow land to ride unicorns together.”

Jiwoo snickered while Vivi hummed thoughtfully. 

“This might sound crazy,” the Cantonese woman said, “But I think they may have gone to hell. Yerim ‘went home’ right after them. She must have taken them through the mirror to hell.”

“That would make sense. And Hyejoo must have gone with them to show them the way to the Bargainer’s lair, right? Although, I suppose Yerim could have done that herself. Maybe she went as their muscle,” Jiwoo supplied. Vivi shook her head. 

“Something tells me they didn’t just go to kill the Bargainer,” the human announced darkly. 

“Uh oh, that can’t be good,” Jiwoo cried. 

“It’s not,” Vivi growled. 

The three sat in a tense silence until they head the door open. Instinctively, both Jiwoo and Chaewon grabbed the nearest thing that could be used as an offensive weapon. Chaewon grabbed a sword with a blue stone at the hilt, Jinsol’s abandoned weapon, and Jiwoo grabbed the empty bottle of wine. 

It was Yerim.

It was strange seeing her without a smile. 

To say she looked disheveled would be an understatement. She clothes were even more ragged, torn and bloody than before she left. Her hair was ruffled and spread out behind her like a purple mane. She had more scratches on her face than she had when she left. What was most worrying, was that her purple eye was dimmer than usual. 

Vivi stood up immediately. 

“Where is Haseul and what has she done?” she demanded with folded arms. Yerim’s odd eyes flicked around the room. She gripped her own sword so tightly that her knuckles were white and she constantly shifted her weight between her feet. 

“Erm, it’s a long story,” she squeaked, “Where’s Jinsol unnie and Yeojinie? I need to borrow their energy.”

Vivi frowned, “They both drank a bit much. They’re fast asleep.”

“Can they be woken?” 

“Not even an apocalypse would wake them,” Chaewon remarked. She raised her eyebrow questioningly when Yerim cringed and made a funny noise. “Can’t you take their energy anyway?”

“Morally, no! Of course not! But also no because an odd eye can only choose to give their energy to another. We can’t just tap into each other’s energy willy nilly. The energy sharing process is actually really comp-” Yerim began to ramble a bit. She began to try to explain the process, but Vivi held her hand up, silencing her immediately. 

“Yerim. What do you need the energy for?” she asked slowly and clearly. The purple eyed girl looked like a puppy who had just been caught pooping in their owner’s slippers. That is to say, she looked guilty. But she seemed unwilling to spill. A sharp look and a raised eyebrow from Vivi soon loosened her tongue. 

“I didn’t have enough energy to take us all back here. I was hoping to tap into Jinsol unnie and Yeojin’s energies so I could go back and bring everyone back here,” she explained quickly. 

“Doesn’t your energy regenerate with rest? Can you just rest till the morning and go back, wherever ‘back’ is in the morning?” Jiwoo suggested innocently. Yerim winced and shook her head decisively. 

“No, that’s too long. I need to go back now! Heejin unnie is unconscious and Hyejoo’s been stabbed and it had to take Jungeun’s energy and I think Haseul unnie is probably on the edge of a breakdown so-“ Yerim’s blabbering was cut off by an angry, blonde angel. 

“Excuse me, what do you mean Hyejoo’s been stabbed?” Chaewon asked. 

“Well, the Bargainer stabbed her when she tried to stop him from getting to Lucifer and the heart of hell!”

“Lucifer? The heart of hell? What were you guys doing?” Jiwoo nearly screamed. 

“Can we perhaps circle back to why the fuck is Heejin unconscious?” Vivi demanded. Yerim shrank where she stood. Sheepishly she put her sword on the floor. 

“Maybe I should just tell you the whole story,” she suggested. 

“Yeah, that sounds like it might be a good idea,” Chaewon bit back sarcastically. 

The purple haired girl collapsed on the sofa and began to explain what had happened. She kept it brief, but informative. She told them that they went to hell to destroy it as Haseul had been told by her father to either kill the Bargainer or destroy hell completely. She told them the heart of hell was tied to Lucifer, the great betrayer. The Bargainer came and destroyed the mirrors and tried to stop them. Haseul managed to stab the devil anyway, but changed her mind when she realised that Heejin was dying. The Bargainer chose to take the energy of hell for himself and become the ruler of hell and hurt Hyejoo while he attacked. The energy killed him, but it stopped the destruction of the hell dimension. Upon their escape, Yerim borrowed Jungeun’s energy to get home and get help. 

Jiwoo whistled and shook her head. 

Vivi took a big breath, stood up, and began to shout and rant in Cantonese. The three girls watched in bewilderment, completely clueless to what she was saying. She turned to look at Yerim and pointed at her, clearly scolding her in a language she didn’t understand. After a short while, Vivi stopped pacing and ranting. She groaned. 

“Um, translation?” Yerim requested sheepishly. Vivi sighed heavily and put her fingers to her temples, feeling a headache starting to form. 

“You guys are fucking idiots. Arrogant, stupid, impulsive idiots,” Vivi spat. Both Chaewon and Jiwoo shrugged when Yerim looked to them for support. 

“She’s not wrong,” Chaewon pointed out, causing Yerim to pout, her shoulders slumped forwards. 

There was a tense silence which followed. The young angels and odd eye looked to the only human for instruction. 

Vivi knew what she had to do. She just didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to use her curse. She promised herself she wouldn’t ever use it again. But she supposed that she was doing this on her own terms. And she was doing it for good reasons. Perhaps her broken promise could be justified. The Cantonese woman began to circle her wrists and stretch her neck. 

“Right, well, we have two options. One, wait until morning and hope that either Yerim is well enough or Jinsol and Yeojin are sober enough to give her their energy. Or... I use my gift,” Vivi said the second option quietly. 

“How long will it take for you to draw them?” Jiwoo asked. Vivi thought about it deeply. She voiced her thoughts aloud. 

“I can do the background quickly. That will take me about half an hour. I can do the sketches in around twenty minutes each, so that’s nearly two hours so far. But they need to be exact. The colouring will take a while,” 

“What about if you trace a photo of them?” Chaewon suggested. 

“The initial sketch will take much less time, but the detail and colouring will still take a while. And it has to exact, otherwise it won’t work,” Vivi claimed. 

Yerim jumped to her feet. 

“Then let’s get started!” she shouted, “Where are the art supplies around here?”

The painstaking process of drawing a picture of four people began. Vivi started with the background immediately. She painted the walls and sofa carefully. While she painted, she made the angels tidy up the messy living room. The less stuff she had to draw, the better. Yet she made them keep something that would make the room distinctive, ensure she wouldn’t accidentally send her friends to the wrong room. 

Vivi underestimated her speed. She was rusty. Yerim stood over her shoulder biting her nails. Chaewon pretended to be calm and unaffected, but her jiggling leg gave her away. 

Vivi started tracing her friends next from pictures supplied by herself. She was lucky that she had pictures of Heejin, Haseul and even Jungeun on her phone. She’d have to draw Hyejoo from memory. There were no photos of the dark angel. 

“This is taking forever,” Jiwoo complained suddenly. “Can we speed this up?”

“This has to be exact, Jiwoo,” Vivi reminded her friend impatiently. 

“What if we helped? Wouldn’t that speed things up?” Chaewon suggested. 

“Chaewon, no offense, but I’ve seen you’re drawings and they are far from exact,” the human woman replied dryly. The blonde turned her nose up and folded her arms. 

“Wait, but we can trace? If we help you trace, that will speed things up, right?” Jiwoo exclaimed, bouncing up from her seated position. She winced as she did, for her stomach was still healing. Vivi nodded tensely. 

Soon, all four girls were spread out on the floor around a canvas, carefully sketching a woman each over a common background. As soon as they were done, Vivi continued her work on her current subject. The forsaken angel, Hyejoo. 

There was a tense silence in the room as Vivi quietly and precisely painted the dark angel. Her wings took the longest. There was a beautiful precision in the lack of uniformity of her feathers. It took a lot of effort to get it right. 

Chaewon was starting to get on Vivi’s nerves. She constantly looked over her shoulder, pointing out things about Hyejoo, like the specific colour of her eyes or the way her hair hangs over her shoulder or the shape of her mouth when she smiles. It was exhausting. Eventually, Vivi snapped. 

“Jiwoo, there’s a twenty-four hour convenience store not from here. Will you go and buy snacks and coffee? Maybe some breakfast for everyone would be nice. And will you see if they have any more paint? I could do with some more,” Vivi requested. “Take Chaewon with you. I’ll pay you back.”

The cheery angel saluted as she marched her anxious friend out of the flat. 

Vivi didn’t even know if the store would be open. The city was supposed to have been evacuated. Though, she did know that many people in this area of the city stupidly thought the hell-pit wouldn’t affect them. They were right, but it was a stupid assumption nonetheless. Vivi was just grateful for the quiet. It allowed to concentrate. It allowed her to paint more quickly. 

Soon, the painting of Hyejoo in Heejin’s living room was almost complete. Vivi was still alone, save for Yerim’s sleeping body on the sofa. She finished the painting with a final stroke and pulled her paintbrush away with a distinguished flourish. 

Vivi closed her eyes and sighed. She took a few more deep breaths. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to see if her painting had worked, if her curse had truly returned to her. 

A sudden crash and a loud curse made Vivi open her eyes. Sprawled out on the floor was a girl with wings blacker than the darkest of nights with midnight coloured hair to match. She stared at Vivi with dark eyes framed by furrowed eyebrows. Her triangular mouth was open in shock. Her pale hands were holding something to her stomach. 

Hyejoo. 

“What the actual fuck?” Hyejoo swore. Vivi raised her eyebrow. 

“Welcome back to Earth,” she said dryly. The forsaken angel looked around wildly, a little too wildly. She groaned and clutched her stomach tighter. Immediately, Vivi moved to go towards that injured girl. However, Hyejoo held her hand out with a grimace. 

“Whatever you just did, do Heejin next. I’m fine. But I don’t think Heejin is,” Hyejoo said quickly. 

While Hyejoo dragged herself towards the sofa and leant against it, Vivi got to work on her portrait of Heejin. 

By the time Chaewon and Jiwoo returned, Vivi had managed to rescue Heejin. The part-demon was lying on the floor. She was unconscious, but her pulse was strong. Vivi hoped that she would be forgiven for starting to draw Jungeun rather than tending to her friend. 

As soon as her eyes lay on Hyejoo, Chaewon dropped the bag she was holding and ran towards the dark haired angel, jumping over Heejin’s body as she did. The blonde engulfed Hyejoo in a hug, but pulled away quickly when she heard Hyejoo’s whimper. 

As she looked at the dark angel, Chaewon’s expression changed for joy to anger. She raised her hand and slapped her on the cheek. Hyejoo scowled. 

“The fuck was that for?” she cried. 

“That was for making a deal with the enemy,” Chaewon declared. She slapped her again. “That was for kidnapping Sooyoung.” She slapped her once more. “And that’s for fucking off to hell and getting yourself stabbed.”

Hyejoo’s expression was priceless when Chaewon suddenly grabbed the younger angel’s face and leant down to kiss her lips fiercely. Quickly, she closed her eyes and kissed the blonde back. Pouting, Chaewon pulled away. 

“So, what was that for?” Hyejoo laughed breathlessly. 

“Shut up, or I’ll take it back,” Chaewon responded sharply. Hyejoo laughed. Genuinely. 

“And how exactly are you going to take back a kiss, smart ass?”

“Like this!” Chaewon declared as she leant towards Hyejoo. When their lips were millimetres apart, Chaewon pursed her lips and sucked inwards, making a funny noise. She leant slightly closer to make her point more clearly, but she make the angels’ lips brush slightly. 

“Aha! You kissed me again!”

“Did not!”

“Guys! I’m trying to concentrate!” Vivi shouted at the bickering pair. “If you’re going to fight, go somewhere else. And Chaewon, do you really think you should bring rough like that with an injured girl?” She pointed paintbrush at them accusingly. 

Hyejoo looked smugly at the blonde, who rolled her dark eyes, but instead started to care for the younger girl’s wound with surprising tenderness. The wound wasn’t too deep, and had already started to heal, although it was starting to look a little crusty. 

Meanwhile, Jiwoo knelt in front of Heejin and collected the young woman, pulling her horned head into her knee. She cooed over the poor girl sweetly while she felt for a pulse. Seemingly satisfied, Jiwoo nodded to Vivi, who had taken her eyes off her work to watch her friend. 

The coffee Jiwoo brought for her has been placed by her side. Vivi took a grateful sip and savoured the flavour for a few moments. Quickly, she knocked the hot liquid back, ignoring how it scalded her tongue and throat. With a growl she threw the empty cup behind her and continued with her painting. 

With caffeine flowing through her veins, Vivi charged through the next portrait. She was careful to highlight the muscles in Jungeun’s exposed arms and the coiled power that lay within them. She made sure to include the lighter highlights within Jungeun’s brown hair that gave it depth and made it look like a powerful mane. Of course, she didn’t leave out Jungeun’s eyepatch and she ensured that strap sat in the exact same place it sat in real life. Nor did she leave out Jungeun’s ruby jilted sword. 

Vivi closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, Jungeun was standing before her in the very spot she had painted her in. 

The former grotesque held her sword tightly, she looked around with wild eyes and blindly swung her sword at nothing. She calmed down quickly once she realised where she was. With a little distaste, distaste which surely arose from fear, Jungeun regarded Vivi. 

“Where’s Haseul?” she asked. Vivi raised her eyebrow. 

“I don’t have four pairs of hands. Nor can I split my mind in four directions. I have to draw you one at a time,” she remarked. “Don’t worry, I’m doing Haseul now.”

Jungeun sat on the floor in front of Vivi’s painting, regarding it critically. At this point, Jiwoo carried Heejin’s sleeping body into her room and carefully placed her on her bed, where a passed out Yeojin was snoring obliviously. 

Part of Vivi was glad that the other girls had drunk themselves silly and each passed out on various beds. It meant there were less distractions. 

And of course, once Vivi brought her back, Haseul wouldn’t have to immediately face the wrath of Hyunjin. Despite being the only human in their group (without an insane power), when Hyunjin lost her temper, you ran. She was a force to be reckoned with. And something told her that if Heejin died because of Haseul, her ex-girlfriend would probably have to leave Korea for her own safety. 

Vivi let the thoughts pester her mind while she focussed on Haseul’s portrait. Painting her ex came easy to her. She did have a lot of practice. Despite her hatred of her curse, she still loved art. And Haseul was art. She had drawn Haseul countless times over the years, only to be frustrated that the pencil or ink or paint never quite captured that thing that was quintessentially Haseul. Each was a poor imitation of the original, perhaps a reflection of the second attempt at their relationship. Shading her spectacular jawline felt like second nature to Vivi, as did painting the earrings which adorned her mismatched ears.

Vivi looked down at her portrait. It was almost complete. She huffed, but it was a noise of confusion and happiness, not contempt. All the little sketches she spent hours agonising over while she and Haseul were dating were like children’s scribbles compared to this. It was funny that her best painting of Haseul came after she let her go. 

Vivi dipped her paintbrush into her brown paint and swirled the thin tip around blank irises, finishing off the painting. Expectantly, Vivi looked to the centre of the room. 

Haseul did not appear. 

Vivi inspected her painting, trying to find some fault in it. Was there an out of place line? A misshapen curve? Anything? No it was perfect. She’d even managed to capture that gentle, caring look in her eyes that masked the subtle potential for arrogance and the swirling storm of anxiety which Haseul tried so hard to conceal. 

It was perfect. But it wasn’t. 

“Why isn’t it working?” Vivi cried. Jungeun scowled at the photo silently, clearly trying to find a fault, any fault. 

“Is it your power? Have you drawn too many people at once?” Jungeun suggested. 

“I once drew an entire family of murdered people and it came to fruition. Twelve people shot dead, murder-suicide they said. Wiped out my father’s competitor. So no, it has nothing to do with my power,” Vivi spat. She was tired. She was grumpy. She wanted to rescue her best friend from hell. She couldn’t be blamed for her irritable mood. 

A shiver ran down Jungeun’s spine and she visibly gulped. 

“Right...” she tipped her head back down to the portrait with her fingers on her chin. “Wait... her eyes. They’re not right. The hell thing made them change colour.”

“What colour are they?” Vivi asked, already cleaning her brush in preparation. 

“Beautiful,” Jungeun whined. Vivi sighed frustratedly. 

“Beautiful isn’t a colour, Jungeun,”

“Right, well. They’re kind of hard to explain. One moment I looked at them, they were gold. And then they were the colour of tanned leather. And then they had this almost pinkish sheen to them, like that rose gold that straight girls like,” Jungeun attempted to explain. 

Jiwoo looked up sharply from where she was helping Chaewon clean Hyejoo’s wound by holding the dark winged angel down. 

“She has the eyes of the seraphim,” she gasped, “If her eyes turned gold, then her angel blood took over completely. Maybe she was supposed to destroy hell, maybe that really was her divine duty.”

“Or perhaps they turned gold because destroying hell was destroying her humanity,” Chaewon remarked darkly, “Leaving her more angel than she was before.”

“But aren’t angels good?” Vivi couldn’t help but ask stupidly. Everyone in the room laughed, none more bitterly than Hyejoo. 

“Surely you must have noticed by now that angels are cruel and ruthless. We don’t feel love and affection like you humans do. We don’t feel anything. At least, we’re not meant to,” Hyejoo’s dark eyes fell on Chaewon. The blonde avoided her heavy gaze, but Vivi saw how her cheeks blushed. 

Vivi wasn’t sure how she didn’t notice, but Yerim had awoken and appeared by her side, staring down at the portrait in thought. 

“If I can find her, I might be able to describe the precise colour of her eyes,” Yerim suggested. Her purple eye was brighter than before, but it was still relatively dim. She looked exhausted, like she might fall asleep again at any minute. 

“Okay, just don’t over exert yourself,” the Cantonese woman warned. Yerim nodded, her bright smile missing from her serious expression. Instead, she entered the bathroom and reappeared with a hand mirror. Scowling, she stared at her reflection. After a painstaking, but short, amount of time, her purple eye went glassy and she gasped. 

“I found her,” Yerim announced absently. Vivi was already staring to mix her paints in preparation. “They’re sort of coppery, kind of like bronze.”

The colour was vague, but enough for Vivi. She nodded and began to mix in a darker colour. 

“Wait, they’ve changed. They’re gold now. Like, a lighter gold. Like pure gold jewellery, that kind of gold,” Yerim exclaimed. 

Vivi groaned as she started over, mixing her colours diligently to obtain the perfect shade of gold. Yerim turned away from the mirror to judge her colour choice and nodded in quiet approval, her usual bright smile reappeared on her face. It gave Vivi hope. 

Her hand never shook when she was painting, not even when she painted the atrocities her father and her demon captor made her commit. But now, her hand was shaking. Swirling the paint over the brown irises was a far more difficult task than it should have been. Yet she completed it. 

It took a few long heartbeats, a couple of ragged breaths, for the magic to kick in. 

One minute there was an empty space on the carpet of Heejin’s living room, the next it was filled by a small pair of feet. These feet belonged to Haseul. 

Immediately, Jungeun leapt to her feet and launched herself at her lover, embracing her tightly and pressing chaste kisses all over her face. Haseul’s gentle smile made Vivi’s heart sing, but her eyes made her blood run cold. 

When Vivi really looked at her ex, she could see that she had changed. Not just by this ordeal, but she had changed slowly over the past few months, so subtly that she hadn’t noticed it until now. Haseul was more muscular, that was obvious. But there was something different in the way she held herself, like she was no longer afraid of herself, like she no longer wanted to shy away from the world. Her shoulders weren’t hunched, but she held them strong and proud. Haseul always was proud, but now she looked it to. Her smile had changed. It wasn’t the same half-fake smile she used to adopt, the one that said ‘don’t worry about me, I’m fine’ when she wasn’t fine at all. Her skin was paler than usual, if Vivi concentrated she could she her darkened veins. That must have been a side effect of hell. Obviously the most drastic change was her eyes. While Haseul was being embraced by Jungeun, her eyes visible lightened and even seemed a little rosy. Despite their change, they still held that element of kindness and they still didn’t conceal that storm of anxiety that Haseul would probably never be free from. 

Perhaps it was appropriate that Haseul’s ordeal had changed her. Whenever she looked in the mirror she would be forever reminded of the suffering she almost caused. Vivi was no stranger to guilt, it tore up her insides and caused her to be secretive and even cold, she wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. But maybe... just maybe, Haseul needed the reminder of what she nearly did. So that she wouldn’t be tempted to do it again.


	34. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody:   
> Me: Time skip!! :D

The world had been turned on its head. After the footage of the hell-pit went viral, there was no going back. Humans were suddenly aware that demons walked amongst them. Of course the religious fanatics were very smug, even after they realised that half-demons had been attending their own churches. They thought it was their actions that purged the demonic blood from the half-demons. They were wrong. They thought it was the sinners who made the demons emerge from their hole and crawl onto the Earth. They were wrong. 

Haseul’s actions had consequences that changed the whole world. Not necessarily for the better. Even though her sword had been put inside the heart of hell for short period of time, it inflicted plenty of damage on the demons and half-demons. 

The demons had been weakened. This was not necessarily a bad thing. The higher demons took advantage of their superior power. Some were inspired by the Bargainer, some made a martyr of him. They tried to rise up. Every one of them failed. 

The half-demons found that their demonic blood had been purged. They were no longer part-demon, but their blood was fully human. This didn’t mean that they lost their demonic attributes. No, they still had their horns and wings and scales and fur, but they had no power to disguise it. They had no way of hiding. Humans hate difference. It took a long time for these part-demons to obtain rights. Decades later, they were still treated as lesser. 

Haseul did that. She was reminded of it every time she looked in the mirror. She was reminded of it every time she looked into her wife’s eyes and saw the gold reflected in them. 

Haseul raised her glass joyfully. 

“I’d like to make a toast to Heejin and Hyunjin!” she cried. The two women dressed in beautiful white dresses beside her looked up at Haseul with love in their eyes. “Heejin and Hyunjin have been through a lot together. They’ve had their ups and downs, but everything that’s happened to them has just solidified their relationship. I mean, Heejin’s been to hell and back for Hyunjin, quite literally.” The crowd of friends and family chuckled. “For those of you who don’t know the story, Hyunjin made a deal with a demon and got trapped in hell when Heejin went missing. We went to hell with Heejin to save Hyunjin. When we got there we found that Hyunjin’s soul had gone feral. We thought all hope was lost. But then Heejin saved her. With her undying love for Hyunjin, she brought her back when we thought she was lost forever.”

Heejin pressed a sweet kiss to her new wife’s knuckles while Haseul waited for the crowd’s cheers to die down. 

“It’s funny, I think we all thought that Heejin and Hyunjin would have been the first of us to get married. No one expected you two to wait until your forties to get married. But I suppose that is my fault. So I apologise for that. However, I think we can safely say that if it wasn’t for your two and your love for one another, we wouldn’t be here at your wedding reception. You two showed the nation, and the entire world, that no matter your bloodline, everyone is capable of love. It is because of you two that marriage between humans and former part-demons has been legalised.”

Haseul waited for the louder cheers and claps to die down. 

“You two are perfect for each other. You are truly soulmates and I love you both from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for being my friend. Now, let’s toast to Heejin and Hyunjin, the most beautiful brides the world has ever seen!”

All the people in the room cried ‘cheers’ as they stood up and raised their drinks to the ceiling. 

Hyunjin started to cry again. It was the fifth time she’s cried that day. Haseul hadn’t been there when she was getting ready, but Chaewon informed her that Hyunjin had cried twice while she got ready because she was so worried that Heejin would change her mind. They had to redo her makeup twice. Hyunjin cried again when she saw Heejin walk down the aisle, overwhelmed by her beauty. And then she cried while she said her vows because she was so happy that they could finally get married. And now she was crying at Haseul’s maid of honour speech. She was such a big softie. Heejin still cried blood, despite no longer having any demon blood, so she spent a lot of the wedding trying to not cry so that she wouldn’t ruin her makeup. 

“Nice speech. Bit different to the one you practiced at home,” Jungeun remarked as she sneaked her hand onto Haseul’s exposed thigh. 

“Yeah, I forgot what I was going to say so I improvised a bit,” Haseul replied with a chuckle, “Do you think it was okay?”

“Well Heejin was grinning the whole way through and Hyunjin’s crying again so I guess you did okay,” Jungeun said with a laugh, “Although it wasn’t as good as the speech Chaewon did at Jiwoo and Sooyoung’s wedding. Or Vivi’s best woman speech at our wedding. Or Chaewon’s speech at our wedding.”

“Ah, who could forget Chaewon’s speech at our wedding?” Haseul reminisced, “She roasted everyone so hard that I think she actually made someone cry. She was so drunk that night. Hyejoo was so embarrassed!”

“Oh god, do you remember how red Hyejoo went when Chaewon started to declare her love for her while roasting the shit out of her at the same time? Chaewon totally upstaged us at our own wedding,” the brunette laughed. Haseul shook her head. 

“And I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Our wedding was perfect,”

Jungeun grinned in that lovesick way she always did when it came to Haseul and kissed her cheek sweetly. It had been twenty six years since they properly met, and Haseul still fell more and more in love with her wife with every passing day. 

Suddenly, Haseul thought to check the time. She glanced at her watch and sighed. 

“Babe, I think it’s nearly time for us to go. The babysitter will be going crazy if we’re not home by nine,” Haseul remarked. 

“We should probably start making the goodbye rounds. Fuck knows it will take half an hour to get round everyone,” Jungeun responded. She stood up carefully and held her hand out to Haseul. The short woman looked her wife up and down appreciatively. Her wife had decided to go with a suit for the wedding. She wore a handsome, dark grey suit with a white shirt and a cute, green bow tie. She wore a matching dark green eyepatch. Her suit jacket was a little too big for her. They’d had to get one that would hide her growing stomach. Haseul took her wife’s hand as she stood up, adjusting her dark green dress as she did. 

“You know, I should be the one helping you up, missus. I don’t want you straining yourself,” Haseul said, half teasingly. Her hand instinctively rested on her wife’s tummy protectively. Jungeun removed her hand with a scowl. 

“Don’t be so obvious, babe. We don’t want to steal any attention away from the happy couple,” she scolded her wife quietly. Haseul shrugged off Jungeun’s concerns with a few comforting words and gently grabbed her hand while she dragged her lover around the large function room. 

Heejin and Hyunjin had kept their wedding relatively small and intimate. Only close friends and Hyunjin’s family were invited to the ceremony. They invited more for the reception that followed, but they still kept it small. 

A group of middle aged women with various demonic features walked past Haseul towards Heejin, who was helping their caterer cut the cake into small pieces for everyone. One of the women had bear paws, one possessed the elegance and wings of a regal dragon, one looked like she had the features of a puppy combined with greying hair and the mature, refined features of a forty year old lady. They greeted Heejin as if they were old friends with tight hugs and innocent cheek kisses. They each shook Hyunjin’s hand respectfully. 

Haseul and Jungeun first headed towards their old allies turned friends. Park Jihyo was talking animatedly with her boyfriend, the ever handsome Daniel. They were joined by Jeongyeon and Nayeon, the latter hadn’t aged a day since they last saw her. A perk of being a higher demon. Though her knee had never been the same after what Haseul did. She’d walked with a limp ever since. It was a miracle she didn’t hold a grudge. Unlike others. 

“Jo Haseul,” Jihyo greeted respectively as she stood from her seat. “It’s a pleasure to see you, as always.”

“Likewise. Congratulations on your promotion,” Haseul said sincerely. Jihyo’s boyfriend regarded her with pride while the woman smiled gracefully. 

“Thank you. It was a surprise, I must admit. Many of us thought Director Park Jinyoung would live forever. But he turned out to be completely human. Shocker really. I suppose it’s a good job that I’ve been preparing for this role since my twenties,” the CEO joked casually. Since the hell-pit, JYP changed from a secret agency to a well-known public organisation. They changed their goal from protecting humanity from the theorised war to protecting the many people affected by Haseul’s poor choices. They worked like a supernatural police force (but actually good and not bunch of bastards), they kept evil demons in check and protected the former part-demons, and newly created true cambions, from attacks from humans. 

Jihyo turned to Jungeun. She flexed her robotic hand, probably subconsciously but spoke pleasantly and calmly. 

“Jungeun, nice to see again. It’s a shame you’ve left our forces. You’ve been missed,” she claimed. After the hell-pit, Jungeun had joined JYP for a while. Well, she didn’t really join them, not properly. But she did work as a sort of contractor, a paid vigilante. They often sent Jungeun to deal with trouble causing demons discreetly and send them back to hell. If they were really troublesome, they’d send Haseul. One look at her golden eyes and mythical sword would send them running back to hell. That was before they started trying to have a baby of their own. Jungeun left JYP after Haseul, once they realised that Haseul would never be able to carry a baby. The heavenly fires in her blood burned too hot to accommodate life. 

“Well, I couldn’t keep flying all over the globe at a moment’s notice. My family needed me,” Jungeun remarked casually, squeezing her wife’s hand. 

The couple continued to chat with the two other couples, and were even joined by two other couples. Only Tzuyu had not joined them, for she was on the other side of the room. After some time, Haseul and Jungeun said their goodbyes to the former Twice agents and left the group to talk amongst themselves. 

They went round the room greeting some other people that they barely knew. Some were school and university friends. Some were from Heejin and Hyunjin’s places of work. It was easy to get away from them. 

They came to the trio of Odd Eyes next, who were talking to their favourite blonde angel and her grumpy girlfriend. Yeojin was cuddled up to Yerim’s shoulder and holding her hand while Jinsol fifth wheeled, chatting to the other girls amicably. Hyejoo was pressed up to her girlfriend and regarding the room nervously. She looked nice in her black dress. Chaewon was wearing a complimentary one. Haseul had no doubt that it was the older angel which made them coordinate their outfits. 

Yeojin’s eyes lit up when she saw Haseul approaching them. 

“Hey, sis!” she greeted loudly, still clinging onto the purple haired woman. 

“Hey, kiddo,” she said, “So, have you two finally made it official?” 

Yerim went bright red and Hyejoo laughed at her. 

“Yep! We’re officially girlfriend and girlfriend now!” Yeojin beamed. 

“Do you have any idea how awful it is being a permanent third wheel?” Jinsol groaned dramatically. She winked to let them know she was joking. 

“Well you don’t have to be a third wheel, unnie. There are loads of girls in the circle that would love to date you!” Yerim said positively. 

“Yeah, all three of them,” Yeojin snickered sarcastically. The small band of odd eyes were working on rebuilding the circle, rebuilding their species. They focussed their energy on finding the telling energy bursts that indicated an odd eye’s awakening and finding the girl to help her. Despite their 100% success rate, very few odd eyes had awoken. 

Jungeun teasingly poked Chaewon, “It’ll be you two next.”

“Unnie, Chaewonnie and I have only been official for five years. I don’t think we’re ready to even talk about marriage yet,” Hyejoo said. Chaewon pouted at her and the dark haired girl stammered, “Although maybe we can at least think about it.”

After a nice talk with their dear friends, the couple moved onto the next group, having made sure to give each of the girls a massive hug and make them promise to visit them soon. 

The next group consisted of a group of elegant women talking in Mandarin. Tzuyu, as tall as ever, towered over Vivi while they chatted animatedly. Despite both women being in their late forties, you could be forgiven for assuming that they were in their early thirties. They’d aged well. Both wore elegant, long dresses and mature make up that masked their forming wrinkles. Talking with them was a very pretty girl who didn’t look a day over twenty. A beautiful, but very bored looking, woman hung off her arm. Her glowing red eyes marked her as a higher demon and lurking beneath her skin, Haseul could see a many-tailed fox. It was much less scary that tentacled thing that had lain beneath the surface of the Bargainer. She shuddered to even think of that demon. Anyway, although she’d never properly met this couple before, Haseul had only been briefly introduced to young Shuhua once, their reputation proceeded them. An angel that was seduced by a demon, only for the demon fell in love with her. Scandalous. 

Vivi turned to greet Haseul warmly when she saw the couple approach. She looked Jungeun up and down and smiled knowingly. Tzuyu greeted Haseul coolly. She’d been off with the short woman ever since she nearly got her killed. And who could blame her? Her girlfriend, Sana, wasn’t bothered. She was happy to be able to grow old with their third girlfriend, Dahyun. But Tzuyu held grudges. And it seemed she was going to keep holding the grudge until the day she died. 

“You’re very short for a seraph. Why did you fall?” the fallen angel asked boldly, staring at Haseul’s golden eyes. Her girlfriend scolded her but the young looking woman was completely unfazed. Jungeun cracked up laughing at her wife’s surprised expression. 

“Oh, I’m not- I’m a nephilim. My dad’s a-yeah. But my mum was human,” Haseul said awkwardly. The fallen angel regarded her through narrowed eyes. She gasped dramatically when she finally put two and two together. 

“You’re the nephilim that nearly murdered my Jinjin, aren’t you?” she growled accusingly. “You nearly killed my girlfriend!”

Haseul winced awkwardly. Protective as always, Jungeun began to shift in front of her wife. Until the strange angel’s girlfriend opened her mouth. 

“I would’ve been fine with that,” she remarked nonchalantly. The pale girl gasped dramatically at her demon girlfriend. Tzuyu rolled her eyes and walked away. 

“And that’s our cue to leave before these two either start arguing or fucking or both,” Vivi deadpanned. She took Haseul’s arm and pulled her away from the bickering couple. Jungeun went around Vivi and took her other arm. 

Haseul stared at the woman she once knew as her ex. She tried not to think of Vivi as her ex any more, especially since they broke up over two decades ago. No, she saw Vivi as her best friend. The woman who rescued her from hell. Haseul noticed that a few grey strands in her friend’s hair. A stark reminder of her ever increasing age, and her mortality. 

“So, when are you planning on telling everyone about the pregnancy?” Vivi asked casually. Jungeun spluttered while Haseul stammered. “Seriously guys, that oversized jacket isn’t fooling anyone. And you really are glowing. How many weeks are you, Jungeun, dear?”

“Um, about sixteen weeks, we think,” the former odd eye stuttered in response. 

“We’ve never made it this far before. We’ve never even got through the first trimester before,” Haseul sighed sadly, “We didn’t want to tell anyone until we were sure that we were going to have her. And we definitely didn’t want to take away from Heejin and Hyunjin’s big day.”

“Have you told your kids yet?” Vivi asked as she slowly walked the couple towards the table where Heejin and Hyunjin were sat with their other favourite couple. 

“We weren’t planning on telling them until I started showing,” Jungeun answered, “But the twins got suspicious when I started throwing up every morning for three weeks straight.”

“How perceptive,” the Cantonese woman remarked. 

“It’s probably the faery blood,” Haseul joked, “Anyway, little Min is too young to understand really. We keep telling him that just because mummy is having her own baby, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to give him back to the orphanage. He’s a stressed little thing.”

“Takes after his mother, then,” Vivi joked. Her dry sense of humour had only become more refined with age, like expensive wine. 

When they finally returned to the head table, there were two couples feeding each other cake. Jiwoo and Sooyoung were being disgustingly sweet as usual and were taking little bites off each other’s spoon. Heejin and Hyunjin were alternating between seeing who could fit the most cake in the other’s mouth and throwing cake for the other to catch. They weren’t even drunk. They were just the least mature forty-something year olds in existence. They both looked very good for their age. Despite her prominent frown lines, Hyunjin still radiated youth. Although they were the same age, Heejin looked a little older than her new wife. The stress had gotten her, causing her black locks to be streaked with pure white. Even her wings were going grey. It was jarring seeing someone who looked like a demon age. But their humanity was not their own choice. 

“Yo, unnies, have you had some cake yet?” Hyunjin basically yelled. “It’s the best cake we’ve ever had, ever.”

“Not yet,” Haseul responded with a grin. 

“Catch,” Hyunjin grinned. She tossed a small piece of cake into the air. Vivi stepped forwards and the sweet soared into her mouth. She chewed in approval. Once again, Vivi continued to surprise. Everyone clapped. 

“I think we’re gonna have to take our cake to go, if you don’t mind,” Jungeun announced as she wondered back to Haseul’s side, taking her hand gently. 

“Ah, is it Jungeun unnie’s bed time?” Heejin teased. Previously it would have seemed odd that a middle aged woman referred to a girl who looked twenty as ‘unnie’, but it was surprisingly commonplace nowadays. The reveal that demons existed was swiftly followed by power hungry fallen angels coming out of the woodwork. Humans now knew not to trust appearances. 

“No,” the lady in an oversized suit pouted childishly. Haseul heard Sooyoung and Jiwoo titter drunkenly and teasingly call her wife a grandma. She grinned. They weren’t wrong. 

“We’ve only paid the babysitter until nine and the girl we’ve got panics when we don’t make it back in time,” Haseul explained, “We would have asked our eldest if he’d babysit, but of course our baby has gone travelling the world. Anyway, the girl we’ve hired is a complete stresshead, but she’s so good with the kids and doesn’t care about whether they’re human or not.”

“I know what you mean, Haseul,” Heejin laughed, “We’ve used the same babysitter as you before. We recommended her, remember? We got home ten minutes late and she was already tearing her hair out. Our little Kitty was sound asleep though and spent the next day asking for her new friend to come over!” A few years prior, Heejin and Hyunjin adopted a sweet little half-demon who had already grown her demonic features, cat ears and the sharpest teeth you’d ever seen, hence the nickname ‘Kitty’. Adoption laws were even more complicated nowadays. The people who looked like demons were only allowed to adopt children ‘of their own kind’ even though their blood was completely human. At least they were allowed to adopt at all. It took them long enough even be given that right. 

“How is Kitty?” Haseul asked. She was always a scrappy thing, a bit of a biter. It had been a while since she’d seen her. 

“She’s grown a lot. She’s almost as tall as Yeojin,” Hyunjin began to rant. The cat-like human hadn’t changed as she grew older. She still only truly cared about three things, Heejin, bread and her daughter. “She’s calmed down a bit now, we think she just needed to settle properly. She hasn’t bitten anyone is weeks! And she’s looking forwards to staying with her Aunt Sooyoung and Auntie Jiwoo while we go on our honeymoon.”

The two forsaken angels beamed with pride. 

“And we’re super exited to have her with us!” Jiwoo squealed joyfully. Although she and Sooyoung had married quickly, they were slow to even think about having children. They focussed first on Sooyoung’s mental health, ensuring her ptsd was manageable before they welcomed children into their lives. Haseul knew that the couple were looking after 2jin’s child as a ‘trail run’, but she’d never tell Hyunjin that. 

“So,” Sooyoung started with a lazy smirk, “Speaking of children, when are you due Jungeun?”

The pregnant woman blushed. Haseul subconsciously moved her hand to her wife’s stomach. 

“How did you-?” Haseul was cut off by Hyunjin. 

“Unnie, no offence but it was super obvious. You haven’t had a drop of alcohol all night. And I saw you put caviar and pickles on the bread. Which is a crime against food by the way,” she pointed out. 

“Yeah, and you’ve started to do the pregnant woman waddle,” Sooyoung stated slyly. Jungeun’s cheeks turned bright red. They turned even redder went Haseul burst out laughing. 

“Sooyoungie!” Jiwoo scolded her wife. 

“What? I’m not wrong!”

Haseul answered the original question, “We’re in the second trimester now. We didn’t want to tell you guys until we were confident that things were going our way. But we have a good feeling this time. Got good feedback when we went for the scans.”

“You’ll have to show us the pictures when we get back from our honeymoon!” Heejin cried, “I bet you’ll be ready to burst when we get back!”

“We’re only going away for two weeks, love,” Hyunjin pointed out. 

The conversation continued in the same joyful tone for a short while. Haseul had never imagined just how domestic her conversations with her friends would be. Being able to talk to her friends about her job and her wife’s antics and her children was something that she never thought would be possible for her. Especially once she found out that she wasn’t human. She was grateful that life turned out that well. 

“Ooh look, Chaewon’s on the champagne. We’d best leave before she decides to make a speech,” Haseul joked while she watched her sister, Yeojin, goad the short blonde into drinking straight from the bottle. 

She wished the happy couple all the best and made Jiwoo and Sooyoung promise her that they’d call if they had any issues with 2jin’s child. 

Haseul and Jungeun left the wedding with five giant slabs of cake. 

“Hey, Haseul, do you remember our wedding?” Jungeun asked out of the blue while the pair were getting ready for bed. Haseul looked at her wife and grinned. Jungeun was wearing a pair of pajamas that had recently gotten a little too small. She was perched on the edge of their bed. 

“Of course I do, it was the best day of my life,” Haseul said softly as she settled on her knees in front of her wife. Tenderly, she lifted up Jungeun’s pajama top to expose her small bump and placed a gentle kiss on her tummy. “I remember how beautiful you looked in your dress. I was a bit shocked that you didn’t wear a suit.”

“Hmm, I was going to but Jinsol and Yerim found me the perfect dress and I couldn’t say no,” Jungeun said, probably for the hundredth time. She purred as Haseul continued to kiss her tummy tenderly. 

Slowly, a little teasingly, Haseul rose upwards and kissed her wife’s lips deeply. Jungeun groaned into the kiss as she pulled Haseul up against her body. 

“I’ve missed this,” Jungeun whispered against Haseul’s lips and kissed her again, even deeper. 

“Mrs Jo, if you’d kindly lie down please,” Haseul requested sillily as she pulled away from her wife. She helped her lie down under the covers and then very carefully climbed into bed beside her wife, positioning herself so that she was atop her without putting pressure on her tummy. 

They kissed again, deeply, passionately. Jungeun fingers scraped against her wife’s scalp as entwined her fingers in her hair. Haseul began to kiss her wife’s neck as her hand travelled downwards from her sensitive breast to her clothed inner thighs. 

Before they could progress any further, they were interrupted by a child’s voice whining “Mummy”. Red faced, Haseul rolled away from her flustered wife as quickly as possible. 

One of the twins was stood in their doorway rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her eyes were still mostly closed. Haseul let out a breath of relief. At least that conversation could be delayed. 

“Mummy, I can’t sleep,” their adopted child whined. 

“I’ve got this,” Haseul whispered to her wife. 

“Don’t be too long. You’ve got me all worked up, you’d better come back and finish what you started,” Jungeun grumbled quietly. 

Haseul laughed and kissed forehead before she clambered back out of bed. 

Haseul followed her ten year old adopted daughter to the room she shared with her twin. Apparently the babysitter hadn’t tucked them in properly or given them their bedtime story. The twins were young for their age. They both loved grand tales of adventure and romance more than anything. Haseul often wandered if it was the faerie blood. 

They were five when Haseul and Jungeun adopted them. Their mother, a faerie, had left them on the doorstep of an orphanage for half-demons when they were merely babies. At the time, Jungeun wasn’t wanting to adopt again so soon after their eldest fled the nest. They adopted their eldest when he was a teenager and they definitely didn’t plan to adopt children so young, but they couldn’t resist their doe eyed stares and sweet faces. 

Nobody was really sure about the twin’s descent. They just knew their mother was fey, but they couldn’t be certain if she Seelie or Unseelie. The orphanage only knew she was fey from the note she left with the children’s names. The twins were certainly part faerie at the very least, their pointed ears and distinctively coloured eyes indicated that. Haseul had a feeling that their mother may have been Seelie due to the twins’ warm brown hair, her son’s gentle green eyes and her daughter’s sun-kissed skin. Although they couldn’t be certain, her daughter’s ice cold blue eyes and the boy’s stark white skin indicated they may have had some Unseelie blood in them. 

Haseul found a pair of leafy green eyes staring at her when she entered the twins’ shared room. She knew exactly what they wanted. 

“Don’t you think you two are getting a little old for bedtime stories?” she teased her children. Her son pouted and flicked his long, brown hair over his shoulder. 

“You said that we’d never be told for bedtime stories,” he pouted. Haseul perched on the side of his bed and tucked a stray hair behind his pointed porcelain ear. 

“Hmm, I guess you’re right,” she hummed. Her daughter came and plonked herself in Haseul lap and giggled when her mother hugged her sweetly. “So, what kind of story would you like to listen to tonight? Action? Adventure?”

“A romantic story!” the children cried in unison. 

“A romance, huh?” she rubbed her chin in mock thought. “How about the tale of the human who fell in love with an angel? Or the story of girl who rescued her lover from hell?”

“No, we’ve heard them so many times before!” her daughter cried. 

“What about the painter and the singer?”

“That one’s too sad! They don’t end up together!” exclaimed her son. 

“Well, how about the tale of the angels who fell from heaven because of their forbidden love?”

“Mummy! Tell us a new story!” both children cried. Haseul laughed and ruffled her children’s hair. 

“Okay, okay!” she chuckled as the fidgety children began to settle down once more. She smiled softly at her kids. 

“Let me tell you the story of the girl who fell in love with a grotesque...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end folks.
> 
> For those of you who have been reading my fic since the beginning, thank you for sticking with me through some of the rougher patches. For those of you who have joined later or read this all at once, that you for taking the time to read my work. She’s a big bitch.
> 
> As a side note, I know the ending is a little anti-climactic, but I’m happy with the note I ended it on. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, but I do love endings with a bittersweet feel to them. I wanted to show that actions have repercussions, and I think that this is a common motif throughout this work, so I tried to include that idea in the time skip. Although everything turned out nicely, things aren’t perfect. Nothing ever is.
> 
> I got off track. I just want to say thanks for reading, let me know if you enjoyed this or if you’d want me to write any side pieces (obvs this would be time dependant). Thanks again and enjoy your life (unless you like that slimy crustacean, my niceness isn’t directed at pedo sympathisers)!


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